Type 1 diabetes mellitus

Type 1 diabetes mellitus:

Type 1 diabetes, formerly known as juvenile diabetes, is common in children and young people and needs insulin treatment.

What is the diabetes?

Diabetes mellitus is a disease that is characterized by causing sugar or glucose to be high in the blood (hyperglycemia). Glucose is a carbohydrate that the body uses to get energy. But if it rises a lot, it is harmful. Hyperglycemia is responsible for the typical symptoms of diabetes and also, in the long run, for the complications of the disease.

The term diabetes mellitus comes from Latin and means "sweetness or honey" (mellitus) and "that passes through or is eliminated in abundance" (diabetes). People with diabetes urinate a lot and eliminate sugar in their urine.

Why does it occur?

Diabetes mellitus is caused by a lack of insulin or because it does not do its job well.

Insulin is a substance that is produced in the pancreas and that causes its effects at a distance (it is a hormone). The pancreas is a gland that is located in the center of the body, behind the stomach, and that, in addition to helping digestion, produces insulin and sends it to the blood, depending on the amount of glucose in it. After eating, blood glucose rises and the pancreas responds by releasing insulin to "put" the glucose into the body's cells. This glucose will provide the fuel needed to create the energy that the organs need. If not enough insulin is produced or the cells are not able to "recognize" it, it increases the glucose in the blood (also in the urine) and by not penetrating the cells, their functioning is impaired due to lack of energy.

How many types of diabetes are there?

There are two main forms of diabetes: type 1 and type 2.

Type 1 diabetes is caused by irreversible damage to pancreas cells responsible for producing the hormone insulin (beta cells). Type 1 diabetes, formerly known as juvenile diabetes, is common in children and young people and needs insulin treatment. It is an autoimmune disease. This means that a person's defense system attacks their own pancreas cells and therefore stops producing insulin. The cause of this phenomenon is not known.