What is type 1 diabetes?

What is type 1 diabetes?

Your body consists of millions of tiny cells that have to work hard all day, and for that, a lot of energy or fuel is needed. Fuel (in the form of sugar or glucose) ensures that you can grow, play, talk, think, walk, sleep... Your body is always hungry and loves sugars, or to use a complicated word, carbohydrates. There are fast-acting and slow-acting sugars. Fast-acting sugars are found in cake, chocolate, dextrose, and soft drinks, but they are used up quickly. Slow-acting sugars are found in potatoes, pasta, rice, and bread, which means your body doesn't get hungry as quickly. Insulin ensures that the sugars can be absorbed by the cells.

When you have type 1 diabetes, the cell doors stay closed. The sugar cannot get inside and stays hanging around in your blood. As a result, the blood sugar levels in your body become too high, which we call hyperglycemia. Because of this, your body gets too little energy. You are eating, but it isn't ending up in the right place. You pee out the sugar (energy). You have to go to the toilet often and you are thirsty. You become thin, even though you are eating well. You feel tired and unwell. Very annoying.

Type 1 diabetes cannot be cured yet. At the children's hospital, a whole team of doctors and nurses will teach you how to check your blood sugar levels every day, how to inject insulin, and how to count sugars—you know, those carbohydrates. The team will also train your mom and dad very well so they can help you as much as possible. If you feel sad or angry, you can talk about this with a special doctor, the child psychologist. Many children nowadays use a glucose sensor to monitor their blood sugar levels and have an insulin pump. If you want to learn more about type 1 diabetes and the different treatments, you can certainly find more information on the website of your diabetes clinic.

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How do you get type 1 diabetes?

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It really is just bad luck! It can happen to anyone and has nothing to do with eating too many sweets. Doctors and scientists still don't actually know how you get type 1 diabetes.

They believe there are all sorts of causes, such as infections you had as a baby, the amount of sunlight and vitamin D, the barrier function of your gut, or whether you were breastfed or bottle-fed... Their exact role is not yet clear. Research into this is still ongoing.

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