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When you eat, the amount of sugar in your blood should increase. This causes a hormone called insulin to go through your body and get rid of and store the sugar from your blood so that you can use it for energy later. When you have type 1 diabetes, your body cannot produce insulin. This can happen when your own immune system attacks and harms the pancreatic cells that create insulin. Children and teenagers have the highest rate of type 1 diabetes: every year, 15 out of 100,000 children are told they have type 1 diabetes. Of all adults with diabetes, 5% to 10% are diagnosed with type 1. In adults, type 1 diabetes usually happens in late 30s or early 40s.
It may be very hard to tell if you have type 1 diabetes, or you may have clear symptoms. One of the main ways your doctor can tell if you have type 1 diabetes is if you have high blood sugar levels. Some other symptoms are peeing a lot, being very thirsty or hungry, muscle cramps, tiredness, weight loss and blurred vision. Your doctor may not know you have diabetes until you have other problems from diabetes such as a heart attack, stroke or wounds that won't heal.
After you have been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, you will be closely followed by your doctor to see how your body reacts to treatment and to see if any other problems come up. There is no cure for type 1 diabetes, but you can live a long life by watching what you eat, exercising, taking medications and making sure you are checking your blood sugars. Type 1 diabetes is best taken care of with a team approach that can include doctors, nurses, dietitians and more.