Causes

Your body changes much of the food you eat into glucose, a type of sugar, which is then carried by the bloodstream to be used to power the millions of cells in your body. The cells cannot use glucose for energy without the help of insulin, a hormone made by the pancreas that helps glucose enter them. Diabetes is a disease in which the body's insulin-producing system malfunctions. Glucose then builds up to excessive levels in the bloodstream.

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In type 1 diabetes, which used to be called juvenile-onset or insulin-dependent diabetes, the body completely stops producing insulin. People with type 1 diabetes must take daily insulin injections to survive. This form of diabetes usually develops in children or young adults but can occur at any age. (In type 2 diabetes, which used to be called adult-onset or non-insulin-dependent diabetes, the body produces insulin but either does not produce enough to properly convert food into energy or is not able to use the insulin it does make. This form of diabetes usually occurs in overweight people who are over 40 with a family history of diabetes.)

In type 1 diabetes, the body stops--or almost stops--producing insulin because the immune system misfires and attacks the beta cells of the pancreas, which manufactures the hormone. The causes of this autoimmune disorder aren't known, although factors relating to genetics, environment, and trauma or infection all may be involved.