Diabetes Type 1 - What is Type 1 Diabetes and how is it
Controlled
Type 1 diabetes is also called juvenile onset or insulin dependent diabetes and
at this point doctors and researchers have no real idea exactly what causes it. They do know that
it is a direct result of the pancreas failing to produce the normal levels of insulin required by
the human body to control the level of
glucose in the bloodstream. Of the two forms of diabetes Type 1 is substantially less
common than Type 2 adult onset.
Even after many years of research and untold millions being spent there is still
no known cure for Type 1 mellitus diabetes, but with the proper treatment most patients can
anticipate being able to lead a long and healthy life.
There are some factors that doctors think may contribute to Type 1 diabetes
including heredity and being exposed to certain viruses. It has also been found that those who live
in the far northern countries of the world have a much higher incidence of contracting mellitus
diabetes, for example those in Finland have 400 times the risk of those in Venezuela.
Other risk factors that are considered as contributing to a person being
diagnosed with diabetes type 1 can include exposure to certain viruses such as Epstein-Barr, mumps,
cytomegalovirus and coxsackievirus. While many people are under the impression that drinking plenty
of cow's milk is good for you some research has shown that early exposure to cow's milk may
actually be a contributing factor to the increased risk.
Patients with Type 1 diabetes are usually thought by most people to have to only
have a problem with high blood sugar
levels because of the lack of insulin; however with this type of diabetes low blood
sugar levels can be just as much of a problem. While the person may have to take insulin on a
regular basis to control the high levels of blood sugar there may still be episodes of "sugar
crash" when the body finds that there is not enough glucose in the blood to function properly. When
this happens the body's organs begin to malfunction, most notable the brain which gets 100% of the
energy it needs to function from glucose.
While low blood sugar is definitely
a concern for all diabetics the most common problem is still high blood glucose counts due to the lack of insulin
to help the body break down and absorb the glucose. There have been many medications tried over the years and still
today the most commonly used treatment remains injected insulin. This is a simple treatment the patient can be
taught to give themselves quite easily and does a very good job of helping to control blood sugar levels. In 2006
an inhaled insulin therapy was tried and although found to work well did not meet with much success.
However undeterred many companies are now in a race to produce an inhaler that works well enough
to gain widespread acceptance as an alternative to the patients having to constantly give themselves injections.
With inhaled therapy the medication can act far more quickly resulting in better overall control of blood sugar
levels.
