Type i Diabetes
is the less common type of diabetes, but yet the critical type. It is also known in the names of insulin dependent diabetes mellitus or as juvenile diabetes. It is a lifelong disease condition and the researches are still going to figure out the actual cause behind Type i diabetes. The condition is usually found in new born kids or in early childhood where the body produces little or no insulin at all. Insulin is the hormone responsible for sugar breakdown and assimilation in the body and is produced by the beta cells of the pancreas.
In the absence of enough insulin to act upon the glucose in the blood, the blood glucose level increases beyond the normal level. As glucose is not utilized by the body to supply energy for the body, there is increased hunger in Type i diabetes patients. Due to the unavailability of enough energy, the person also becomes frail and fatigued. Excessive urination is also a prominent symptom of Type i diabetes which is caused due to the increased concentration of glucose in blood. The symptoms of Type i diabetes are quick and rapid when compared to type 2 diabetes, where the symptoms and even the condition develop gradually over years.
Type i Diabetes
has to be diagnosed quickly and dealt with promptly to fight the condition. With a few years of the onset of Type i diabetes, the disease would have affected the whole of the pancreas, destroying the beta cells completely leaving no beta cells to produce insulin at all. Usually people who have a genetic predisposition to Type i diabetes tend to develop the condition in childhood. Gestational detection of diabetes can help to solve the condition, but it is not very much possible.
The role of viruses in triggering Type i diabetes is being widely studied upon. In such cases, the virus could contain a substance that is similar to that of the pancreas, thus the immune system triggered against the virus will end up destroying the pancreas itself. Another major cause for Type i diabetes is the body’s auto immune response which acts against the beta cells of the pancreas by default and there is no trigger like a virus that is involved here. The miscoded gene structure has been held responsible for this and such people usually suffer from other auto immune conditions.
The only treatment available for people suffering from Type i diabetes is insulin injections. This can be easily done using insulin pumps. The patient must make frequent check-ups with the doctor and have the sugar levels checked to ensure that the proper amount of insulin dose is being used. Using a home blood sugar monitoring device is very much essential for Type i diabetes as too high or even too low levels of blood sugar can be dangerous and life threatening. Type i diabetes patients can keep a check over their diabetic condition with proper diabetic diet and regular exercise, but in any case insulin doses cannot be avoided for Type i diabetes patients.