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Type 1 Diabetes: What Is It?

What Is Diabetes?

Diabetes is a disease that affects how the body uses glucose, the main type of sugar in the blood.What Happens in Diabetes?

What Happens in Diabetes?



What Is Type 1 Diabetes?

The two types of diabetes are type 1 and type 2. Both make blood sugar levels higher than normal but they do so in different ways.



Who Gets Type 1 Diabetes?

Type 1 diabetes can't be prevented, and there is no real way to predict who will get it. Nothing that either a parent or the child did caused the disease.


What Are the Signs & Symptoms of Type 1 Diabetes?


But kids or teens who develop type 1 diabetes may:

  • Need to pee a lot. The kidneys respond to high levels of glucose in the blood by flushing out the extra glucose in urine (pee). Kids with high blood sugar levels need to pee more often and make more pee.
  • Drink a lot of liquids. Because they're peeing so often and losing so much fluid, they can become very thirsty and drink a lot in an attempt to keep the levels of body water normal.
  • Feel tired often. This is because the body can't use glucose for energy properly.
  • Lose weight (or not gain weight as they grow). Kids and teens with type 1 diabetes may have an increased appetite, but often lose weight because the body breaks down muscle and stored fat in an attempt to provide fuel to the hungry cells.

In some cases, other symptoms can be the signal that something is wrong. Sometimes the first sign of diabetes is bedwetting in a child who has been dry at night. Diabetes also should be suspected if a girl who hasn't started puberty yet gets a vaginal yeast infection.

How Is Type 1 Diabetes Diagnosed?

Doctors can say for sure if a person has diabetes by testing blood samples for glucose. When high blood sugars show that a child has diabetes, other blood tests are usually done to help doctors find out if the child has type 1 or type 2 diabetes, because management and treatment of the diabetes may differ based on type.


How Is Type 1 Diabetes Treated?

Treatment means good diabetes control to minimize symptoms; prevent health problems; and help kids have normal physical, mental, emotional, and social growth and development. To do this, parents and kids should aim for the goal of keeping blood sugar levels as close to normal as possible.

In general, kids with type 1 diabetes need to:

  • take insulin as prescribed
  • check blood sugar levels several times a day
  • get regular physical activity


What Problems Can Happen With Type 1 Diabetes?

If early symptoms of diabetes are missed and treatment isn't started, chemicals called ketones can build up in the blood and cause stomach pain, nausea, vomiting, fruity-smelling breath, breathing problems, and even loss of consciousness. Sometimes these symptoms are mistaken for the flu or appendicitis. Doctors call this serious condition diabetic ketoacidosis, or DKA.

Diabetes also can cause long-term complications in some people, including heart disease, stroke, vision impairment, and kidney damage. It also can cause other problems throughout the body in the blood vessels, nerves, and gums. While these problems don't usually show up in kids or teens who've had type 1 diabetes for only a few years, they can affect them in adulthood, particularly if their diabetes isn't well controlled.


What's New in the Treatment of Type 1 Diabetes?




How Can I Help My Child?

Parents can help their kids lead happier, healthier lives by giving constant encouragement, learning what they can about diabetes, and making sure their children eat properly, exercise, and stay on top of blood sugar control every day.


  • work closely with their doctor and diabetes health care team to get the best possible diabetes control
  • be watched for signs of complications and other diabetes-related health problems

Living with diabetes is a challenge for anyone, but kids and teens often have special issues to deal with. Young kids might not understand why they need blood tests and medicines. They might be scared, angry, and uncooperative.

Teens may feel different from their peers and want a more carefree lifestyle than their diabetes allows. Even when they faithfully follow their treatment schedule, they might feel frustrated if the natural body changes of puberty make their diabetes somewhat harder to control.

Having a child with diabetes may seem overwhelming at times, but you're not alone. If you have questions or problems, reach out to the diabetes health care team — they can help with medical issues, and are there to support and help you and your child.

Reviewed by: Steven Dowshen, MD
Date reviewed: January 2018