Type 1 diabetes is a disease in which the cells of the pancreas, which produce the hormone insulin in the body, break down. Insulin is a hormone necessary for the body to take up sugar from food and use it as energy in the body's cells. Normally, when you eat, your blood glucose level rises and insulin is secreted in response. In the case of type 1 diabetes, because the cells that make insulin have broken down, very little insulin is secreted. As a result, blood glucose levels remain high (hyperglycemia). Currently, there is no cure for type 1 diabetes, but there are ways to control blood glucose levels, such as by supplementing insulin externally.
For more information on treatment options, please visit our Current Treatment Options page.
Juntendo University
Graduate School of Medicine
Intractable Disease Research Center
Graduate School of Medicine