Treatment FAQ

what kind of treatment do people wiyh diabetes type 1 get

by Pasquale Bayer Published 2 years ago Updated 2 years ago

Insulin and other medications
Anyone who has type 1 diabetes needs lifelong insulin therapy. Types of insulin are many and include: Short-acting (regular) insulin. Rapid-acting insulin.

What to eat when you have type 1 diabetes?

You can choose from:

  • Greek yogurt (non-fat, plain)
  • Beans and other legumes
  • Natural almonds and walnuts, or other unsalted nuts
  • Tofu
  • Eggs
  • Yogurt (plain)

How do you treat type 1 diabetes?

If you have any of the following symptoms you should get tested.

  • Urinate a lot, often at night
  • Are very thirsty
  • Lose weight without trying
  • Are very hungry
  • Have blurry vision
  • Have numb or tingling hands or feet
  • Feel very tired
  • Have very dry skin
  • Have sores that heal slowly
  • Have more infections than usual

Could this new treatment cure type 1 diabetes?

Vertex Pharmaceuticals ( NASDAQ:VRTX) reported positive results in October from an early stage clinical study evaluating VX-880 in treating type 1 diabetes. The New York Times recently published an article about these results, suggesting that Vertex could even have a cure for type 1 diabetes.

How to avoid complications from Type 1 diabetes?

Type 1 diabetes: How to avoid kidney complications?

  • The kidneys: a filter. Diabetes is the most common cause of kidney disease. ...
  • Few symptoms. The development of kidney disease is an insidious process; there are few, if any, symptoms before severe damage has occurred, which is why regular screening and testing are ...
  • Early detection is essential. ...

How is type 1 diabetes currently treated?

Type 1 diabetes is managed with: Insulin replacement through lifelong insulin injections (up to 6 every day) or use of an insulin pump. Monitoring of blood glucose levels regularly (up to 6 times every day or as directed by a doctor or Credentialled Diabetes Educator) Following a healthy diet and eating plan.

What is the first treatment for type 1 diabetes?

Insulin injected subcutaneously is the first-line treatment of type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM). The different types of insulin vary with respect to onset and duration of action. Short-, intermediate-, and long-acting insulins are available.

How can type 1 diabetes be treated or cured?

The truth is, while type 1 diabetes can be managed with insulin, diet and exercise, there is currently no cure. However, researchers with the Diabetes Research Institute are now working on treatments to reverse the disease, so that people with type 1 diabetes can live healthy lives without medication.

What type of medication is used for type 1 diabetes?

Insulin. Insulin is the most common type of medication used in type 1 diabetes treatment. If you have type 1 diabetes, your body can't make its own insulin. The goal of treatment is to replace the insulin that your body can't make.

Is insulin the only treatment for type 1 diabetes?

Type 1 diabetes is a chronic condition in which the pancreas makes little to no insulin. Its treatments include insulin therapy, blood sugar monitoring, dietary awareness, and exercise.

Can type 1 diabetes be treated without insulin?

For people with “traditional” T1D, particularly those diagnosed in childhood or adolescence, to survive without insulin, “they would need to stay on carbohydrate restriction and stay very hydrated,” Kaufman says. But their survival rate is “multiple days, to a few weeks, getting sicker and weaker as time goes on.

What is the life expectancy of someone with type 1 diabetes?

The investigators found that men with type 1 diabetes had an average life expectancy of about 66 years, compared with 77 years among men without it. Women with type 1 diabetes had an average life expectancy of about 68 years, compared with 81 years for those without the disease, the study found.

Which is worse type 1 or 2 diabetes?

Type 2 diabetes is often milder than type 1. But it can still cause major health complications, especially in the tiny blood vessels in your kidneys, nerves, and eyes. Type 2 also raises your risk of heart disease and stroke.

What causes diabetes type 1?

What causes type 1 diabetes? Type 1 diabetes occurs when your immune system, the body's system for fighting infection, attacks and destroys the insulin-producing beta cells of the pancreas. Scientists think type 1 diabetes is caused by genes and environmental factors, such as viruses, that might trigger the disease.

What is the treatment of diabetes?

Treatment for type 1 diabetes involves insulin injections or the use of an insulin pump, frequent blood sugar checks, and carbohydrate counting. Treatment of type 2 diabetes primarily involves lifestyle changes, monitoring of your blood sugar, along with diabetes medications, insulin or both.

Do type 1 diabetes make any insulin?

In type 1 diabetes, the body's immune system attacks and destroys the cells in the pancreas that make insulin. So the body can't make insulin anymore. This is different from type 2 diabetes, where the body still makes insulin, but the insulin doesn't work as it should.

Overview

With type 1 diabetes, your pancreas loses the ability to make enough insulin, a hormone that helps the body absorb blood sugar, or glucose, and convert it to energy. When this happens, the sugar builds up in your blood.

Insulin

If your body is no longer producing enough insulin, you’ll need to take insulin every day to help regulate your blood sugar. Because glucose levels can fluctuate, people with type 1 diabetes usually need to check their blood sugar throughout the day to determine how much insulin they need to take.

Metformin

Metformin is an oral medication that is often prescribed to people with type 2 diabetes to help them control their glucose levels. This medication does not increase insulin in the body. Instead, it lowers glucose production, and also helps insulin work more effectively.

Medications

Your doctor might prescribe other medications, such as blood pressure medication, cholesterol-lowering medications, or aspirin. These medications don’t treat the diabetes itself, but help reduce the risk of other health problems that can be related to diabetes, such as hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and kidney problems.

Artificial Pancreas

An artificial pancreas is a medical device that mimics the work of a real pancreas by monitoring your blood sugar levels and releasing insulin automatically. Instead of checking your glucose levels and injecting yourself throughout the day, you wear a sensor under your skin, a continuous glucose monitor, and an insulin pump.

Islet Cell Transplantation

Islet cell transplantation is a procedure that takes healthy insulin-producing cells from a donor pancreas, and transplants them into a person with type 1 diabetes.

Pancreas Transplant

In some cases, doctors can take a healthy transplant from a deceased donor, and transplant it into the body of someone with type 1 diabetes. While this procedure can restore the body’s natural insulin production, it’s also risky, because the medications you have to take to prevent your body from rejecting the pancreas can have serious side effects.

How to treat type 1 diabetes?

Another form of treating type 1 diabetes is to have an injection of insulin producing cells. This procedure, known as islet cell transplantation, allows the transplanted insulin producing islet cells to produce insulin inside your body. Islet cell transplantation can help to reduce the amount of insulin you need to take ...

How does type 1 diabetes work?

By Editor. Central to the treatment of type 1 diabetes is to keep a balance of the right amount of insulin to keep blood glucose levels from being either too high or too low. In type 1 diabetes the body’s immune system kills of the insulin producing cells leaving the pancreas unable to produce enough insulin to keep blood glucose levels ...

How does insulin work?

As a result, insulin needs to be taken by injection or another delivery means such as by infusion with an insulin pump. Insulin is a hormone in the body that helps to move glucose out of the blood and into cells for energy.

What are the skills needed to control type 1 diabetes?

Ability to calculate how much insulin is needed for that amount of carbohydrate. Carbohydrate counting and insulin dose adjustment are key skills to learn in order to best control type 1 diabetes.

What happens when you are diagnosed with type 1 diabetes?

The thought of injecting each day can be a big shock at first but once you get the hang of it, it becomes a manageable part of life.

What does DAFNE stand for in diabetes?

One popular type of carbohydrate counting courses is called DAFNE which stands for dose adjustment for normal eating .

What is an alternative to insulin?

An alternative way of taking insulin is to use an insulin pump. An alternative name for insulin pump therapy is continuous insulin infusion therapy because insulin pumps work by continuously delivering small amounts of insulin into the body.

How to prevent diabetes complications?

Keeping your blood sugar levels as close to target as possible will help you prevent or delay diabetes-related complications. Stress is a part of life, but it can make managing diabetes harder, including managing your blood sugar levels and dealing with daily diabetes care.

Who manages diabetes?

Unlike many health conditions, diabetes is managed mostly by you, with support from your health care team (including your primary care doctor, foot doctor, dentist, eye doctor, registered dietitian nutritionist, diabetes educator, and pharmacist), family, teachers, and other important people in your life.

What is the hormone that helps blood sugar enter the cells in your body?

Insulin is a hormone that helps blood sugar enter the cells in your body where it can be used for energy. Without insulin, blood sugar can’t get into cells and builds up in the bloodstream. High blood sugar is damaging to the body and causes many of the symptoms and complications of diabetes. Type 1 diabetes (previously called insulin-dependent ...

How does Type 1 diabetes happen?

Type 1 diabetes is thought to be caused by an autoimmune reaction (the body attacks itself by mistake) that destroys the cells in the pancreas that make insulin, called beta cells. This process can go on for months or years before any symptoms appear. Some people have certain genes (traits passed on from parent to child) ...

Why do you need insulin every day?

If you have type 1 diabetes, you’ll need to take insulin shots (or wear an insulin pump) every day to manage your blood sugar levels and get the energy your body needs. Insulin can’t be taken as a pill because the acid in your stomach would destroy it before it could get into your bloodstream.

How to check blood sugar?

Recognize the signs of high or low blood sugar and what to do about it. Give yourself insulin by syringe, pen, or pump. Monitor your feet, skin, and eyes to catch problems early. Buy diabetes supplies and store them properly.

How long does it take for diabetes to show symptoms?

Type 1 diabetes symptoms can develop in just a few weeks or months. Once symptoms appear, they can be severe. Some type 1 diabetes symptoms are similar to symptoms of other health conditions.

What is the biological cure for diabetes?

A biological cure means treatment that would help the body start producing its own insulin again, restoring blood sugars to normal levels without introducing other risks. This research focuses on a process called islet transplantation.

What is the goal of the Diabetes Research Institute?

With more research, our goal is to effectively reverse type 1 diabetes, restoring the body’s ability to normalize blood sugar levels naturally. Get more answers to your questions about type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes and gestational diabetes symptoms and treatments.

How long can you live without insulin?

And in 2019, a study by DRI scientists showed that a small group of patients who received islet transplants had been able to live without insulin injections for 10 years, while maintaining blood sugar levels that were in the same range as people who had never had type 1 diabetes.

What happens if you don't have insulin?

With type 1 diabetes, your pancreas stops making insulin, a hormone that helps the body convert blood sugar into energy. Without insulin, sugar builds up in the blood and can damage your internal organs , including your heart, kidneys, eyes, nervous system, and other parts of the body. This can lead to serious or life-threatening complications ...

Can you reverse type 1 diabetes?

For a century, treatment for type 1 diabetes has focused on managing the disease. Thanks to past advancements in medicine, patients are able to control their blood glucose levels with regular insulin injections or an insulin pump. Now clinical trials are underway for treatments to reverse type 1 diabetes and restore the body’s ability ...

Is Type 1 diabetes a lifestyle disorder?

This can lead to serious or life-threatening complications over time. Type 1 diabetes is not caused by a person’s diet or lifestyle. It is an autoimmune disorder, where the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks and destroys healthy cells in the pancreas.

Can diabetes be reversed?

However, researchers with the Diabetes Research Institute are now working on treatments to reverse the disease, so that people with type 1 diabetes can live healthy lives without medication.

When is insulin taken?

The usual treatment schedule is: The long acting insulin is typically taken at bedtime and/or morning. Nutritional insulin is taken before each meal, based on how many carbohydrates are in the meal, ...

What is correctional insulin?

Correctional insulin corrects high blood glucose before meals. Similar to nutritional insulin. Similar to nutritional insulin. Most patients with type 1 diabetes are treated with “intensive” or “basal-bolus” insulin therapy, which requires four injections a day. This method allows a great deal of flexibility with regards to the types ...

Can you produce insulin on your own?

Type 1 diabetes completely damages the pancreas, an organ responsible for making insulin. For that reason, persons with type 1 diabetes cannot produce any insulin on their own. Every patient with type 1 diabetes depends on injections of insulin so that glucose can be used as energy in the body.

Is insulin taken before or after a meal?

Nutritional insulin is taken before each meal, based on how many carbohydrates are in the meal, in addition to correctional insulin which is based on the blood glucose reading before the meal. Meeting with a dietitian can help patients learn carbohydrate counting, with specific dosing recommendations from the health care provider.

What causes type 1 diabetes?

It isn’t completely clear what causes type 1 diabetes, but we know that diet and lifestyle habits don’t. Type 1 is thought to be the result of an autoimmune response, where your body attacks the cells in your pancreas that make insulin. Insulin is a hormone that acts like a key to let blood sugar into your body’s cells for use as energy. Sometimes infection with a virus seems to trigger the autoimmune response. Many people with type 1 diabetes have family members with type 1, but most don’t.

What to do if your child has diabetes?

Parents: Diabetes Care Tips. If you have a young child or teen who is newly diagnosed, they will need help with everyday diabetes care especially at first, such as checking blood sugar, taking insulin, and adjusting levels if they use an insulin pump.

Why do you need an insulin pump for a child?

Your child’s health care team will give you detailed information about managing your child’s diabetes, but here are some highlights: If your insurance and finances allow, have your child use an insulin pump to lower the risk of low blood sugar and help keep blood sugar levels in range .

What hormones are involved in autoimmune disease?

Insulin is a hormone that acts like a key to let blood sugar into your body’s cells for use as energy. Sometimes infection with a virus seems to trigger the autoimmune response. Many people with type 1 diabetes have family members with type 1, but most don’t.

Why is it important to have steady blood sugar?

Steady blood sugar levels can help you have more energy, better sleep, an easier-to-manage appetite, better focus, and stable moods. If you’re having trouble meeting your target, talk to your doctor or diabetes educator about making changes to your treatment plan so you can stay in range longer and feel better.

How old is too old to get diagnosed with diabetes?

The peak age for being diagnosed with type 1 diabetes is around 13 or 14 years, but people can be diagnosed when they’re much younger (including babies) and older (even over 40).

Can a diabetic use a continuous glucose monitor?

Your diabetes educator will need to train you and your child on using the pump. Also have your child use a continuous glucose monitor (CGM), if possible, for around-the-clock blood sugar readings. Your child will still need twice-daily finger sticks to ensure the CGM is measuring blood sugar levels accurately.

Diagnosis

Medically reviewed by
Dr. Rakshith Bharadwaj
A chronic condition where the pancreas produces little or no insulin. This causes increased thirst, frequent urination, hunger, sudden weight loss and weakness.
Condition Highlight
Urgent medical attention is usually recommended in severe cases by healthcare providers
Condition Highlight
May be dangerous or life threatening
How common is condition?
Common (More than 200,000 cases per year in US)
Is condition treatable?
Treatable by a medical professional
Does diagnosis require lab test or imaging?
Rarely requires lab test or imaging
Condition Highlight
Family history may increase likelihood

Clinical Trials

Lifestyle and Home Remedies

Coping and Support

Preparing For Your Appointment

Image
Diagnostic tests include: 1. Glycated hemoglobin (A1C) test.This blood test indicates your average blood sugar level for the past two to three months. It measures the percentage of blood sugar attached to the oxygen-carrying protein in red blood cells (hemoglobin). The higher your blood sugar levels, the more hemog…
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