Type 1 diabetes

When Lina was a small child, her parents noticed she was always very thirsty and needed to pee a lot. She felt tired and cranky most of the time. She seemed to be constantly hungry, but despite eating a lot she was losing weight. Lina’s parents took her to the doctor’s. The doctor did some tests that showed that the level of sugar — glucose — in Lina’s blood was higher than it should be.

Eventually, Lina was diagnosed with a condition called type 1 diabetes. Type 1 diabetes means that Lina’s body doesn’t produce a hormone called insulin. Insulin instructs the body’s cells to take up glucose from the bloodstream and use it to produce energy for the body. Insulin is normally produced by specialised cells inside an organ called the pancreas. But in people who have type 1 diabetes, those insulin-producing cells are damaged.

The body stops producing insulin. Without insulin, the body’s cells don’t take up glucose. Instead, the glucose stays in the blood and builds up over time, causing high blood sugar — hyperglycaemia. Hyperglycaemia is what caused Lina’s symptoms, and it can lead to further complications, too. These include problems with the heart, eyes, or kidneys.

For most people with type 1 diabetes, the condition starts when they are a child or teenager — but it can start in adulthood too. Type 1 diabetes is the second most common type of diabetes — about one in every ten people with diabetes has type 1. What causes a person to develop type 1 diabetes isn’t always clear. Most doctors and scientists agree that it has nothing to do with a person’s lifestyle, and there is nothing a person can do to prevent it. Instead, it can result from the body’s immune system attacking its own insulin-producing cells by mistake.

Other factors, such as viral infections or genetics can also play a part. Type 1 diabetes is a long-term — chronic — condition, and there is currently no cure. But the available treatments can help manage blood sugar levels and lower the risk of complications. Because Lina’s body doesn’t produce any insulin, she needs insulin injections. Some people inject themselves with insulin through a syringe several times a day, but Lina uses a device called an insulin pump.

The pump is attached to Lina’s body and it releases doses of insulin automatically. Depending on the food she eats or how much she exercises, the dose needs to be adjusted. If the dose is too large, Lina’s blood sugar levels might drop too low, leading to hypoglycaemia. The symptoms of hypoglycaemia vary. Sometimes, Lina just feels tired and gets a headache.

Other times, she starts to feel dizzy and shaky, anxious or irritated. She can’t think clearly and her heart starts beating fast. If her blood sugar level stays low for too long, Lina may lose consciousness or have a seizure. In extreme cases, hypoglycaemia can even cause death. When a person gets hypoglycaemia, insulin should never be injected, as this will lower the blood sugar level further and make things worse.

Instead, when Lina notices her blood sugar level is low, she can bring it up by eating or drinking something that contains simple sugars, such as a glucose pill, fruit juice, or honey. Lina will have diabetes for the rest of her life. She’ll need to monitor her blood sugar on a daily basis to watch out for high or low blood sugar levels. And she’ll always need to use insulin, adapting the dose depending on what she eats and how much she exercises. This way, she can enjoy life and do all the things her friends do!