Diabetes is a chronic disease that affects 30.3 million Americans, and about 208,000 people younger than 20 years are living with this diagnosis. The month of November is the National Diabetes Month, a time to raise awareness about diabetes and encourage people to make healthy choices. Type 1 diabetes remains the most common form of diabetes in childhood despite the increasing rate of type 2 diabetes in the young population over the years.
Type 1 diabetes is a condition in which the body fails to produce insulin due to the destruction of insulin-producing pancreatic beta cells. The causes for this disease are still unknown, but it is thought to follow exposure to “environmental trigger” in genetically predisposed individuals. In type 2 diabetes, there is relative impairment of insulin secretion as well as insulin resistance, which is strongly associated to obesity and can be prevented. Regardless of the type of diabetes, early diagnosis and good management are important in order to avoid related health complications. (CDC)