Understanding Diabetes Type 1

Type 1 Diabetes: What is it? Dr. Kim Pugh: Type 1 diabetes is typically in a younger person but it can occur at any age. The main difference between type 1 and type 2 is in type 2, you have a relative deficiency. So the insulin is not able to do the job because there is an issue with the systems whereas in type 1, you are making very little or no insulin and with time, you make no insulin. So with type 1, it's a deadly disease without insulin. Type 1 Diabetes: Is it hereditary? Dr. Kim Pugh: No. Actually most people type 1, there is no family history for diabetes. In fact, about 85% of people with type 1 have no family history for diabetes. Type 1 is generally caused from autoimmune disorder, so your body basically rejects your pancreas and it generally occurs out of the blue, usually in a young population and that's why they use to call a juvenile diabetes. Type 1 Diabetes: Are most cases diagnosed when a person is young? Dr. Kim Pugh: No, because it can occur at any age. In fact, probably about 10% of what we think is type 2 diabetes is ultimately going to be type 1 diabetes, hence what we call late onset type 1 diabetes. Female Speaker: Okay, so you can get type 1 diabetes anytime in your life? Dr. Kim Pugh: At any age. One thing that may make you suspicious is that you have a type 1 patient and they just don't fit the typical mode, there is very little family history, they are not particularly obese, they have rapid progression to needing insulin, that may clue you in that's type 1. Type 1 Diabetes: What is insulin and how does it relate to diabetes? Dr. Kim Pugh: Well, the insulin is basically a protein. What it does is it helps mobilize blood sugar into the muscle and also into different organs. So if the insulin is not present, then you're not going to do that. Also you have to be able - the insulin has to work so if you have resistance to it, it's like trying to get a key that wouldn't fit into the lock, I mean the key is there but the lock is changed. There is something at the cellular level that aggravates your blood sugar, because the insulin doesn't work very well. In type 1, the feeling is it's an autoimmune disease so there is some substance like an antibody that attacks the pancreas and therefore the pancreas just quits producing insulin. Type 1 Diabetes: Is there a cure? Dr. Kim Pugh: No, there is not a cure for type 1 diabetes because your pancreas is generally is actually not functioning at all, so you can not make insulin. Now you can have pancreatic transplant or auto cell transplant so that is essentially a cure but they are surgical techniques. It's just not that easy to go and get a transplant and fortunately right now, the way transplants work, you have to be on antirejection medications and the general feeling is that the cure is worse than a disease.