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Type 1 diabetes means your body makes very little insulin or none at all. Once known as juvenile diabetes or insulin-dependent diabetes, the disease usually is diagnosed in children, teens and young adults but can develop at any age.
The difference between Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes is that with Type 2, your body makes insulin, but doesn’t use it efficiently. Insulin, a hormone produced by beta cells in the pancreas, helps release blood glucose, or sugar, from your blood, giving you energy. Types 1 and 2 diabetes are both forms of what’s clinically known as diabetes mellitus.
If your body doesn’t make insulin, the result is high blood sugar as the glucose continues flowing through your blood stream. A high blood sugar level can lead to diabetic ketoacidosis (a medical emergency), cardiovascular diseases, kidney damage, nerve damage, eye conditions and an increased risk of infection. Persistent high blood glucose levels can cause long-term complications.
Teenager Kylie Smith was the first patient in Kentucky, Indiana or Ohio to receive the treatment.
Read Kylie’s Story
Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease. Your body’s immune system has wrongly identified the pancreas’ beta cells as foreign and fights them as if they were germs. Without beta cells, your body doesn’t make insulin.
Researchers aren’t sure what causes Type 1 diabetes or how to prevent it. It’s a chronic disease that can be managed effectively with your endocrinologist. Treatment typically involves adding insulin to your body, along with an exercise and eating plan to control your blood glucose level.
Adults developing Type 1 diabetes may be eligible for a breakthrough treatment. Teplizumab (pronounced tep-LIZ-oo-mab) is available to adults who don’t yet have Type 1 diabetes and have no symptoms. A screening is available at no cost if you meet eligibility requirements, which include being between ages 2 and 45 and having a relative with Type 1 diabetes.
Sometimes, Type 1 diabetes has no symptoms. If you have a family history of the disease, your medical provider may conduct tests, such as an islet autoantibody test. Islet autoantibodies can appear when beta cells in the pancreas are damaged. Even if signs of Type 1 diabetes are detected, it doesn’t mean you have the disease, and further monitoring may be needed.
Contact your health care provider if you or your child have any of the following symptoms, according to the American Diabetes Association.
Your primary care provider can help you manage your diabetes, or you may choose to seek specialized care with an endocrinologist. Several Norton Community Medical Associates primary care locations share space with dedicated endocrinology practices throughout the Louisville area, including in Southern Indiana and in Elizabethtown, Kentucky.
Left untreated, Type 1 diabetes can lead to serious health complications, with symptoms coming on quickly.
Diabetic ketoacidosis: This is an emergency condition. Without glucose coming from the blood, your body starts breaking down fat for energy, producing blood acids called ketones. High levels of ketones lead to diabetic ketoacidosis, which initially causes excessive thirst and frequent urination.
Left untreated, severe diabetic ketoacidosis symptoms can come on quickly. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, they include:
For some, diabetic ketoacidosis is the first indication they have that they have Type 1 diabetes. Diabetic ketoacidosis treatment typically involves intravenous fluids, insulin and electrolyte replacement.
Additional complications of untreated Type 1 diabetes may include:
Diabetes management starts with managing blood sugar levels. Various approaches are available, including daily insulin replacement, exercise and minding your food intake to control sugar levels.
Continuous glucose monitoring provides a real-time estimate of your blood sugar levels anytime and exposes trends over hours or days. The information can help you make better decisions about your food and beverage intake, physical activity and medications.
A continuous glucose monitor includes a tiny sensor placed under your skin or implanted. A transmitter sends the information wirelessly to a receiver, which can be software on your phone or insulin pump. A continuous glucose monitor often can make frequent finger pricks for a blood test unnecessary.
With Type 1 diabetes, you’ll need insulin therapy every day. You can give yourself shots or use an insulin pump. In combination with continuous glucose monitoring, an insulin pump provides a steady insulin dose. Tubeless insulin pumps are patches, or pods, with a reserve of insulin that are attached to your skin with an adhesive. They deliver insulin as needed.
The waterproof pod can be worn on the upper arm, belly, hip, buttock or thigh.