Typ 1
Diabetes
Type 1
diabetes, also known as
“juvenile” or
“insulin-dependent” diabetes, is
one of the chronic diseases that may already develop in early
childhood. It is a so-called autoimmune disease, which means that the
body’s own immune system affects the insulin producing cells
of
the pancreas and destroys them. Our body needs insulin from these cells
to convert the sugar from food into energy. Children with type 1
diabetes need to administer insulin several times a day in order to
stay well and healthy.
Even before the onset of the disease we can detect diabetes autoantibodies
in the
blood. People with these autoantibodies have a high risk of developing
diabetes.
How high
is the risk of developing type 1 diabetes?
Overall,
a child’s chance of
developing type 1 diabetes is about three in a thousand (0.03%). In
contrast, a child who has an immediate family member (first degree
relative, i.e. mother, father, brother or sister) with type 1 diabetes,
has a risk of 0.5% (50 in 1000 children). Children in families in which
several members have diabetes (at least two first degree relatives)
have a risk of 30% (300 in 1000 children). If these children also have
susceptible genotypes
at the major
diabetes-related genes the risk increases to 50% (500 in 1000
children).
