Help please before I go into manic panic mode

[FabIsGoingToBeFabIn2010]

Can anyone tell me the difference between type 1 and 2 diabetes please? And what makes type 1 life threatening?

Type 1 is the insulin-needing kind, and usually develops when you're still young. With it you need regular insulin injections for the rest of your life.

Type 2 is the kind that is related to being overweight and is usually something that happens in older people. It can often be improved by losing weight, exercise etc.

Thank you.

The person I am worrying about has type 1 and is only 2. I am about the life threatening bit as I didn't know that.

I think it would be life-threatening if not detected and treated, but I believe the prospects are good if they follow what the docs say. Or rather, if their parents do until they're old enough.

It must be a shock for them to have to face giving their child injections every day.

Here's a couple of websites which should give you more info -

www.nhs24.com/content/default.asp?page=s5_4&articleID=128&sectionID=1

www.diabetes.org.uk/

The whole family are coping brilliantly, especially the child , but it was a to hear it was life threatening on the news as they didn't make it clear that was if it wasn't treated. They were talking about fake pancreases iirc.

Fab, I?m sorry to tell you that, yes, Type 1 is life-threatening because if you get the dosages of insulin wrong you can go into a diabetic coma. This is particularly dangerous at nighttime (in the day you?re more likely to be aware of your blood sugars going too low). It?s called ?Dead in Bed Syndrome? and accounts for around 20-60 deaths in children with T1 every year, usually from cardiac arrhythmia resulting from hypoglaecemia (low blood sugar).

Huge advances in testing and management have made this less frequent.

Of course it?s also extremely dangerous to let your blood sugars run too high as this leads to complications in later life. It?s all a tricky balancing act, this condition.

School is another minefield, but at least your friends have a few years before they have to worry about that.

If you have any specific questions, please feel free to ask, both DS and DD have had it for about 6 years.

Heck.

Fab, quick update. According to recent research (published in papers today) over 3,300 children with Type I diabetes are admitted to A&E every year.

Most of these cases are actually for diabetic ketoacidosis, which are high blood sugars (as opposed to the low blood sugar deaths I mentioned in my previous post) and they can lead to coma and death without emergency treatment.

Apologies if you find this upsetting, but a lot of people seem to underestimate how serious Type I diabetes is.