What do the different types of diabetes mean for me?

Diabetes is a disease that means too much sugar ends up in your blood.

Normally, the amount of sugar in the blood is controlled by a hormone called insulin, produced by the pancreas (a gland located behind the stomach). When you eat, many foods turn into glucose and enter your bloodstream after being digested. Insulin helps to move glucose out of the blood and into cells, where it is used as energy.

In diabetes, because there is either not enough insulin, or because your cells don’t respond to the insulin, the body is unable to fully use the glucose in the blood stream.

Diabetes results when your body cannot make insulin (type 1), or your body can’t make enough insulin or use it effectively (type 2).

Type 1 Diabetes

With type 1 diabetes, your pancreas doesn’t produce insulin. It is usually diagnosed in children, adolescents or young adults. About 10 per cent of people diagnosed with diabetes have type 1. It is much rarer than type 2 and currently cannot be prevented or cured.

If you have type 1 diabetes, you need to give yourself daily insulin injections for the rest of your life. You also need to constantly monitor your blood sugar levels to make sure they’re within the healthy range.

If you have type 1 diabetes, eating healthy and getting lots of physical activity become essential if you want to lead a healthy life.

Type 2 Diabetes

Type 2 diabetes occurs when your body doesn’t make enough insulin or it doesn’t effectively use the insulin it produces. It is by far the most common form: over 90 per cent of people with diabetes have this type. It’s different from type 1 diabetes, which is when the body doesn’t produce insulin on its own to survive. Another way it differs is that in the majority of cases type 2 diabetes is preventable; type 1 is not.

If you have type 2 diabetes, you may be able to control the disease by eating healthy, getting more physical activity and taking diabetes medications (including insulin), if prescribed by your doctor.

The best way to keep healthy with diabetes is by making healthy lifestyle choices. You can discuss all of this with your primary health care team who will help you determine what treatment is best for you.