How do you get type 1 diabetes?!

How do you get type 1 diabetes?

Like, is it something you can get from eating high sugar foods or something? How?

Type 1 can have several causes. You can be born with it and that does happen but it's not the only cause. Type 1 is an autoimmune disorder. It is mainly caused when the body basically attacks itself, destroying the cells that produce insulin. When the pancreas no longer secretes insulin, your body is not able to metabolize sugar, which is vital for energy. The glucose can build up to toxic levels in the body, causing severe damage and in some cases, death. Type 1s must take insulin to survive.

There are other causes...illness, injury, or other diseases that lead to pancreatic failure.

There is no correlation between eating large amounts of sugar and developing type 1 diabetes. There is, however, a STRONG correlation between poor diet and lack of exercise to type 2 diabetes. Type 2s can mostly control it with diet, exercise, oral medications and in some cases, insulin.

I'm a type 1 diabetic. I use an insulin pump, which constantly infuses me with the insulin I need to live. My diabetes is the result of a traumatic injury that I suffered in a car accident many years ago. C'est la vie.

I hope this answers your question.

EMT

Let me add this real quick...roughly80-90% of diabetics are type 2. The remaining roughly 10% of diabetics are type 1 (per the ADA). There has been an increase in recent years of type 2 showing up more in children. This is largely due to children leading a more sedentary lifestyle. The third type of diabetes is gestational. This occurs in pregnancy and for the most part, goes away after delivery. Women who develop gestational diabetes are at much higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes later in life.