Type 1 Diabetes

In type 1 diabetes, the body makes little or no insulin — called insulin deficiency. People with this type of diabetes must take insulin injections to live. That's why you sometimes hear it referred to as "insulin-dependent diabetes." Less than one in ten people with diabetes have type 1. Although it usually begins when people are young, it may occur at any age.

Causes of type 1 diabetes

At this time, no one knows the exact cause of type 1 diabetes. But it is related to a problem with the body's defense (immune) system that causes it to destroy the insulin-making cells in the pancreas.