Juvenile diabetes, or Type 1 diabetes, is a serious condition
Juvenile or Type 1 diabetes is caused by the inability of the pancreas to make sufficient amounts of insulin. While less common (5-10% of cases of diabetes), it is a life-threatening condition which necessitates complete insulin replacement. If untreated, it can lead to mortality within two to three months of the onset, since the body cells starve because they no longer receive a hormonal prompt to absorb glucose.
Although the majority of Type 1 diabetics are young, the condition can develop at any age. It is most prevalent in the Caucasian population and can be inherited. The patient's own immune destroys the pancreatic Islet of Langerhans cells, which secrete the hormone, probably because the immune system mistakes them for a virus. In fact, viral infections are suggested as the trigger that sets off this auto-immune disease.
Juvenile or Type 1 diabetes is diagnosed by an immunological assay which shows the presence of anti-insulin/anti-islet-cell antibodies. While there is no known cure, the symptoms can be controlled by strict dietary monitoring and insulin injections. A new development is the Implantation of pumps which will release insulin immediately in response to changes in blood glucose.
