All about type 1

Diabetes Type 1 is an autoimmune disease which results to the destruction of the insulin-producing beta cells located in the pancreas. The lack of insulin results to an increase of blood glucose that appear in the urine. This is why the symptom of this particular disease is identified to be some kind of a sweet urine.

Glucose in the urine (or what is clinically known as Glycosuria) causes the patients to urinate frequently. Because of this, they have to drink more than normal (clinically known as polydipsia) as well. These are the characteristic symptoms of Diabetes Type 1.

If the disease is not treated with exogenous insulin, Diabetes Type 1 can be very lethal. Injection is the traditional and the most common method for administering insulin. Other methods include inhaled insulin, indwelling catheters, and jet injection. These processes replace the missing hormone which was produced by the pancreas. The pancreas can no longer do the task because the beta cells are no longer functioning. Recently, pancreas transplant is another way to treat Diabetes Type 1.

Right now, islet cell transplant is being investigated. It has been tested on rats and mice and and a couple of experimental trials in human beings. There is a possibility to produce new population of stem cells by functioning the beta cells but these has yet to be done correctly in laboratories. As of 2008, these experiments are still being conducted.

Diabetes Type 1 is not just a disease for children. People often misunderstood this because it was formerly known as “juvenile” or “childhood” diabetes. It is important to note that the adult Diabetes Type 1 is misdiagnosed with Type 2 because of the confusion. Unfortunately, there is no clinically proven preventive measure against developing type 1 diabetes. A vaccine has been proposed and there are anti-body approaches which are currently being tested and investigated. People who develop Diabetes Type 1 quickly lose weight and these sudden changes in weight can be very dangerous if it is not properly diagnosed – and as soon as possible.