Type 1 diabetes

In Type 1 diabetes, the pancreas fails to make sufficient insulin. Without enough insulin, blood glucose can remain dangerously high. It is normally treated with insulin injections, which replace the missing hormone and help glucose leave the blood.

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune condition. The immune system normally protects the body against pathogens, but in type 1 diabetes it mistakenly attacks the insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas. Their destruction may take place over several years.

In type 1 diabetes, the body's immune system destroys the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. The pancreas then makes little or no insulin. Without enough insulin, glucose is not taken up by cells effectively, even though plenty may be present in the blood.

In type 1 diabetes, the pancreas stops making enough insulin, often making none. This usually happens because the immune system mistakenly attacks the pancreatic cells that produce insulin. It is therefore an autoimmune condition, not a result of eating too much sugar.