Understanding Type 1 Diabetes

Type 1 (insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus [IDDM] or "juvenile" or "childhood") diabetes is mainly a childhood disease, although it can also occur in adults. It is caused when the pancreas doesn't make enough insulin. Insulin allows sugar that comes from the foods we eat to pass into our body's cells so that it can be "burned" for energy.

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease. Autoimmune diseases occur when there is a malfunction in the immune system. Normally, the immune cells are "trained" to recognize the cells in our body as "self". Because of this, the immune cells can destroy outside or foreign substances, but not the cells in our body that help us function. Autoimmune diseases occur when the immune system fails to recognize "self cells" and begin to attack them, as if they were foreign. In the case of type I diabetes, the immune system begins targeting the cells in the pancreas that make insulin. The immune system makes antibodies against the insulin and insulin producing cells. Eventually all the insulin-making cells in the pancreas are destroyed, so there is no more insulin being made and type 1 diabetes occurs. Because people with type 1 diabetes can no longer make insulin, it is necessary for them to give themselves daily shots of insulin to survive. At this point type I diabetes is a life-long disease.

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Genetics of Type 1 Diabetes

One of the important factors that determines who gets type 1 diabetes is genetics, or inherited factors. Children who have parents or siblings with type 1 diabetes are at a higher risk of developing the disease. There are also certain genes that have been found to be associated with an increased risk of developing type 1 diabetes.

The genes that are linked with type 1 diabetes are located on the HLA (Human Leukocyte Antigen) region of the genome.

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Type 1 Vs. Type 2 Diabetes

Although most people have have heard of diabetes, there is often confusion about the different types of diabetes. TEDDY is studying type 1 diabetes, but there is also another kind of diabetes that is sometimes found in overweight children and teens, and is also the most common type of diabetes in adults over 40. This is type 2 diabetes, also sometimes called "adult-onset" or "non-insulin-dependent" diabetes. People with type 2 diabetes still produce insulin, but the cell is not able to effectively use it or is just resistant to it. Because the cell cannot use the insulin, it builds up in the blood, leading to type 2 diabetes. Unlike type 1 diabetes, which requires insulin shots for treatment, type 2 can often be treated with only diet and exercise. Sometimes type 2 diabetics take oral medications, which help their bodies make more insulin or help their cells become more sensitive to insulin. These pills cannot help people with type 1 diabetes because their pancreas is unable to make insulin, and the pills would be broken down by their stomach acid. In more severe cases of type 2 diabetes, insulin shots may be required.

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