What is Type I Diabetes

Type I diabetes is far less common than type II diabetes and it will affect younger individuals. That is why it is also known as juvenile diabetes or insulin-dependent diabetes. The chances of developing type I diabetes is 3.7 to 20 per every 100,000 people. In fact, over one million Americans have type I diabetes and some 10,000 new cases are being diagnosed every year. It is normally found in puberty usually between ages 10 to 12 years old in girls and 12 to 14 years old in boys, even though is can be seen in adults in their late 30s or early 40s.

Diabetes is a serious issues and type I diabetes is the worst. The reason why people develop type I diabetes is due to the autoimmune disorder. The body will start to see it's own tissue as a foreign object and then it destroys the body's ability to produce insulin. In another word, the autoimmube disorder will cause the dysfunction of the pancreas where it will just stop producing insulin which the body needs to maintain a normal glucose level in the blood. This cause your glucose level is too high in the bloodstream, which is known as hyperglycemia.


The most common symptoms of diabetes type I include frequent hunger, frequent urinating and frequent thirst. People will feel always hungry is because their body cannot use glucose as an energy source. That is also why they are tired out easily. Since the body cannot absorb sugar or glucose into the blood cells, individuals need to release it through frequent trips to the bathroom, which subsequently lead to frequent thirst.

Apart from that, you will also experience blurred vision, fatigue, weight loss, low healing power as it takes you a long time to heal a wound or cut, dry mouth, dry or itchy skin, and you could even have impotence for men. Besides, you should look out for other symptoms such as muscle cramps, which are often caused by an electrolyte (calcium, sodium, potassium, or bicarbonate) imbalance and numbness or tingling in both the hands and feet. In addition, your immune system will become weak and you will be able to pick up infection easily.

Scientists claim that what triggers type I diabetes are genetic make up and environmental factors such as certain viruses. You may simply have the disorder because an immediate family member has it. Study shows that if parents are suffered from diabetes, whether is type I or type II diabetes, the higher chances of their children will be diagnosed with type I diabetes. That is why we need to take care of our health before we plan to have our own kids.

As for treatment, type I diabetes normally involves injections of insulin. It is absorbed in the blood stream and absorbed by the cells that need insulin and it will then control the levels of blood sugar. Apart from properly monitoring insulin level of the patient, their diet should also be well managed, including checking of the spacing of meals and the content and sugar composition of their food.