Type 1 diabetes is not one of those medical conditions for which you can just pop a pill and then forget about it.
It forces you to think about every bite you put in your mouth, every activity you do, says Andrew Drexler, director of the Gonda Diabetes Center at UCLA. "It's always there. You can never get away from it."
There are almost 24 million estimated cases of diabetes, according to the American Diabetes Association. Almost 10% of diagnosed cases are type 1.
Experts believe the disease involves an autoimmune process that destroys insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. Insulin is a hormone needed to convert sugar, starches and other food into energy.
"We know there's a genetic component, but not everybody with that genetic component gets type 1," Drexler says.
Type 1 is usually diagnosed in children and young adults. The most serious short-term problem is hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar, which can cause wooziness and disorientation. If it strikes while someone's driving, for instance, he's at risk for an accident. If blood sugar dips severely low, coma and death can occur.
Untreated hyperglycemia, when blood sugar runs too high, can lead to long-term problems over the years, including kidney disease, blindness and limb amputation.
A diagnosis can have a significant effect on mental health, says Duke endocrinologist Susan Spratt. "Patients go through the stages of grief," Spratt says. "They mourn the life they had before diabetes, a life when they could eat, exercise and sleep spontaneously," Spratt says.
The key to managing the disease: Check blood sugar often and use insulin and other medicines to keep blood sugars steady, Drexler says.
Are we close to finding a cure?
"We likely won't see any major breakthroughs soon, in the next 10 years," Drexler says. But Spratt says patients should remain positive.
"We have to give our patients hope that the medical community is working on a cure. Type 1 diabetes is treatable. You can live a full life and grow up, have a family and be anything you want to be."
source: usatoday
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