What is Type 1 (T1) Diabetes?

Type 1 (T1) Diabetes is the type of diabetes that typically develops in children and young adults. In T1 Diabetes the body stops making insulin and the blood glucose level rises very high as the body cannot absorb the sugar in the bloodstream.

Insulin is a hormone produced in the pancreas, and acts like a key that ‘unlocks’ cells and allows sugar from the blood to enter. Damage to the pancreas can occur for many unknown reasons but the most commonly caused by the body’s own immune system. Insulin-producing cells in the pancreas of people with T1 Diabetes are destroyed by cells that normally defend us from invading organisms. This is called an ‘auto-immune’ process, referring to the fact the body appears to turn against itself.

T1 Diabetes in controlled with insulin injections, which replace the insulin that the body cannot produce itself.

Heidi at Ironman NZ 2011 before the swim