Embarrassing Illnesses

Type 1 diabetes occurs because your body cannot produce any insulin, a hormone that is needed to control the amount of glucose (sugar) in your blood.

When you eat, your digestive system breaks down food and passes its nutrients into your bloodstream. Normally, insulin is produced by your pancreas to take any glucose out of your blood and move it into your cells, where it is broken down to produce energy.

However, if you have type 1 diabetes, there is no insulin to move glucose out of your bloodstream and into your cells.

What causes type 1 diabetes?

The exact cause of type 1 diabetes is not fully understood, although in most cases it is believed to be an auto-immune condition. This means it occurs as a result of your body's immune system mistaking a natural substance in your body as harmful, and attacking it.

In the case of type 1 diabetes, it is thought that the immune system attacks cells in your pancreas, destroying or damaging them enough to stop insulin production. It is not known exactly what triggers the immune system to do this, but it may be due to infection with a particular virus.

Type 1 diabetes tends to run in families, so there may also be a genetic cause for the auto-immune reaction. If you have a close relative, such as a parent or sibling (brother or sister) with type 1 diabetes, you have roughly a 6% chance of developing the condition yourself. The risk for people who do not have a close relative with type 1 diabetes is approximately 0.4%.

In rare cases, type 1 diabetes may be caused by a condition of the pancreas called pancreatitis. Pancreatitis causes your pancreas to become inflamed, resulting in severe damage to the cells that produce insulin.