Type 1 Diabetes

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune condition. Your immune system, which is meant to protect you from foreign bodies, such as viruses and bacteria, mistakenly attacks and destroys the beta cells in your pancreas that produce insulin.

Insulin usually moves glucose out of your blood and into your cells, where it is converted to energy. However, in Type 1 diabetes, because your body is unable to produce insulin, there is no insulin to move glucose out of your bloodstream and into your cells.

Without insulin, the body breaks down its own fat and muscle leading to weight loss. In Type 1 diabetes this can lead to a serious short- term condition where the bloodstream becomes acidic along with dangerous dehydration.

Symptoms

You may experience the following symptoms:

• A need to go to the toilet more - a person with Type 1 diabetes will try to get rid of the excess glucose through the urine.
• A need to drink more - if you’re going to the toilet more, you’ll become thirstier.
• Become tired quicker - Type 1 diabetes stops cells getting the fuel they need, leading to people affected by the condition becoming exhausted.
• Weight loss - the body compensates for the lack of fuel by breaking down fat stores.

Treating type 1 diabetes

Diabetes cannot be cured, but treatment aims to keep your blood glucose levels as normal as possible, and control your symptoms to prevent health problems developing later.

As your body cannot produce any insulin, you will need to have regular insulin injections to keep your glucose levels normal. You will learn how to match the insulin you inject to the food you eat, taking into account your blood glucose level and how much exercise you do.