Type 1 Diabetes

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease. An autoimmune disease occurs when the immune system starts attacking other areas of the body. In this instance, the immune system attacks the insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas, causing a shortage of insulin. Daily insulin injections are necessary for an individual with type 1 diabetes.

It's currently not entirely clear what causes this to occur. Type 1 diabetes accounts for about 5 to 10 percent of US cases of diabetes.

Symptoms of type 1 diabetes usually develop over a short period, although beta cell destruction can begin years earlier. Symptoms may include:

• increased thirst and urination
• constant hunger
• weight loss
• blurred vision
• extreme fatigue.

A person with type 1 diabetes can fall into a life-threatening diabetic coma if not treated with insulin.

 

Type 2 Diabetes

This is the most common type of diabetes, accounting for somewhere between 90 and 95 percent of diabetes cases. Type 2 diabetes is usually associated with older age, obesity (around 80 percent of people with type 2 diabetes are overweight), family history of diabetes, and lack of exercise. It is diagnosed more and more often as more and more people are becoming overweight.

In type 2 diabetes, the body builds a resistance to insulin, making the hormone less and less effective. Eventually, glucose builds up in the blood and cannot be used.

The symptoms of type 2 develop much more gradually than type 1. Symptoms may include:

• fatigue
• frequent urination
• increased thirst and hunger
• weight loss
• blurred vision
• slow healing of wounds or sores.

Gestational Diabetes

This type of diabetes can develop during late pregnancy in women. It usually disappears after the birth of the baby, but women who have had gestational diabetes have a 20 to 50 percent chance of developing type 2 diabetes within 5 to 10 years.

Gestational diabetes is caused by the hormones of pregnancy or a shortage of insulin. Symptoms may not occur.

 

This information has been adapted from the National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse.