| Type 1 diabetes: Type 1 diabetes affects about five | | | | tissues, accumulate in the blood. Ketone are normally |
| percent of all people who have diabetes.It is | | | | removed from the blood by your kidneys and passed |
| sometimes referred to as juvenile diabetes because | | | | out of your body in urine. When more ketones are |
| there is a higher rate of diagnosis in children between | | | | produced than your kidneys can handle, excess |
| the ages of 10 and 14, but people of any age group | | | | ketones build up in the blood. If not treated, this can |
| can develop type 1 diabetes. It may also be called | | | | lead to ketoacidosis, an extremely serious and |
| insulin-dependent diabetes, because diabetes pills are | | | | life-threatening condition. This situation may lead to |
| ineffective in treating the high blood glucose level; | | | | diabetic coma and death. |
| these individuals require injections of insulin to control | | | | Your disease is most likely Type 1 if you develop |
| their blood glucose. | | | | diabetes before age 35, are lean, have a family |
| Type 1 diabetes is a disease of dumb white blood | | | | history of diabetes treated with insulin and require |
| cells. Normally, white blood cells are responsible for | | | | insulin injections. Additional tests may be done to |
| recognizing foreign objects in our blood and then | | | | confirm the diagnosis. These tests include measuring |
| attacking these foreign objects with antibodies. In | | | | islet-cell antibodies (the antibodies directed towards |
| type 1 diabetes, the white cells believe the beta cells | | | | destroying the islet cells), C-peptide level (a |
| of the pancreas do not belong there. An inflammation | | | | measurement of the amount of insulin being made by |
| ensues and the white cells attack the beta cells. This | | | | the body), and urine ketones. A positive islet-cell |
| destruction of beta cells can happen either very | | | | antibody test, a low C-peptide level, or the presence |
| quickly or slowly over a long period of time. When | | | | of ketones in the urine all suggest a diagnosis of type |
| enough beta cells are lost, insulin deficiency develops | | | | 1 diabetes. |
| and blood glucose levels begin to rise. Occasionally | | | | If you have type 1 diabetes, you probably will require |
| you can identify the viral infection that set off the | | | | insulin to control your glucose. However, the |
| attack, but generally no such illness can be identified. | | | | occasional person in the earliest stages of type 1 |
| To make things more complicated, it is not always | | | | may still have some islet cells left that secrete |
| possible to identify the presence of antibodies (the | | | | enough insulin so that insulin injections are not yet |
| marker of autoimmunity) in the blood. This is | | | | confirmed. Pills or changes in diet, activity and lifestyle |
| especially common in African and Chinese Americans. | | | | may be enough to control blood glucose. Still, because |
| In these racial groups, and in some other groups of | | | | the person has type 1 diabetes, their white blood |
| people, there is probably another cause for the | | | | cells are still attacking their islets cells, and the |
| malfunctioning of the beta cells, but this reason has | | | | insulin-making beta cells are slowly being destroyed. |
| not yet been discovered. | | | | So, with time, insulin injections will become necessary. |
| In type 1 diabetes, there is a chance of developing | | | | Ongoing clinical trials are currently looking at using |
| ketoacidosis because of the extreme lack of insulin. | | | | injections of small dose of insulin early in this diagnosis |
| The lack of enough insulin makes it hard for your | | | | phase as a sort of decoy. It is hoped the white blood |
| body to use glucose for energy. If your body cannot | | | | cells will be distracted by the foreign insulin, taking |
| get glucose from your blood, it breaks down fats to | | | | them off the attack of the islet cells and thus |
| supply energy to your cells. When this happens, | | | | preserving insulin production in the body for a longer |
| ketones, which are more acidic than normal blood | | | | period of time. |