Adults Can Get Juvenile Diabetes

With Type 1 Diabetes, the healthy cells that are destroyed are beta cells in the pancreas. These cells produce insulin. When all the beta cells are gone, the patient can no longer make any insulin and must take shots for the rest of his or her life to survive.

Insulin is a hormone that "unlocks" other cells in the body to allow blood sugar to enter and provide energy. Without insulin (or with inadequate insulin), a diabetic's blood sugar levels rise to dangerous levels, which can result in death if untreated.

The signs of diabetes include excessive thirst, extreme hunger, frequent urination, blurred vision, dizziness, tingling of extremities, and unexplained weight loss. The reason for these symptoms is that the patient's body is not getting any energy (calories) from the carbohydrates that are eaten (resulting weight loss and unabating hunger). As the blood sugar levels rise, the body tries desparately to rid itself of the waste (thus, the thirst and urination).

If you have any of these signs (or if your child does), do not delay - see a doctor as soon as possible for a simple blood sugar test. The prevalence of Type 1 diabetes is generally low. Only 5% of all diabetics in the United States have Type 1; the rest have Type 2. A description of Type 2 diabetes will follow in a separate article.