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What are the types of diabetes?
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Type 1 DiabetesType 1 diabetes is anautoimmune disease. An autoimmune disease results when the body's system forfighting infection (theimmune system) turns against a part of the body. In diabetes, the immune systemattacks the insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas and destroys them. The pancreas then produceslittle or no insulin. A person who has type 1 diabetes must take insulin daily to live.At present, scientists do not know exactly what causes the body's immune system to attack the beta cells,but they believe that autoimmune, genetic, and environmental factors, possibly viruses, are involved. Type 1diabetes accounts for about 5 to 10 percent of diagnosed diabetes in the United States. It develops mostoften in children and young adults, but can appear at any age.Symptoms of type 1 diabetes usually develop over a short period, althoughbeta celldestruction can beginyears earlier. Symptoms include increased thirst and urination, constant hunger,weight loss,blurred vision,and extremefatigue. If not diagnosed and treated with insulin, a person with type 1 diabetes can lapse into alife-threateningdiabetic coma, also known as diabeticketoacidosis.Type 2 DiabetesThe most common form of diabetes is type 2 diabetes. About 90 to 95 percent of people with diabetes havetype 2. This form of diabetes is associated with older age,obesity,family historyof diabetes, previoushistory of gestational diabetes, physical inactivity, and ethnicity. About 80 percent of people with type 2diabetes are overweight.Type 2 diabetes is increasingly being diagnosed in children and adolescents. However, nationallyrepresentative data on prevalence of type 2 diabetes in youth are not available.
