I have Type 1 diabetes. It started when I was only 6-years-old. No one in our family has had Type 1 diabetes before. Is Type 1 diabetes affecting more people now than earlier? Why do some develop Type 1 diabetes at all? Can we prevent it from happening?
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Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune condition. In Type 1 diabetes, your immune cells destroy pancreatic tissues. This destruction of pancreatic tissues results in a lack of insulin. Type 1 diabetes mostly affects children and younger people.
What triggers this abnormal immune response in type 1 diabetes is not understood. Why it happens only in some people is also not clear. Siblings of people with Type 1 diabetes are at high risk of Type 1 diabetes, but all of them do not develop it.
It has been found that Type 1 diabetes might arise due to faulty genetics or some infection.
There seems to be a small increase in the number of people affected by Type 1 diabetes over the last few decades, although the disease still remains rare. The reason for this slight increase in Type 1 diabetes is also unknown.
As long as there are many unknown aspects of Type 1 diabetes, it would remain difficult to prevent Type 1 diabetes from developing. What we can still prevent in Type 1 diabetes is complications. With adequate treatment and care, people with Type 1 diabetes can lead a near-normal life.
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