- Type 1 Diabetes has two forms. Idiopathic is very rare and has no apparent cause, while the second form, immune-mediated diabetes, is the most common. Immune-mediated diabetes is the result of your body's immune system's attempts at destroying the insulin-producing cells of your pancreas. Type 1 diabetes is also sometimes referred to as juvenile diabetes.
- In most cases, the cause is unknown, but genetic factors, as well as environmental issues, may trigger your body's immune system to target cells in your pancreas. This allows glucose to remain the bloodstream instead of being absorbed into the cells, depriving them of necessary nutrients. Most type 1 diabetics must take insulin to control their disease.
- Type 2 diabetes is the result of your body's inability to produce or efficiently use the hormone insulin. It is a metabolic disorder that usually strikes after the age of 45, but can appear early with milder symptoms.
- Type 2 diabetes may be an inherited disorder. But even if it runs in your family, you may be able to avoid triggering the disease by maintaining a healthy weight, exercising and eating properly. These also serve as treatments, along with oral medications and, in some cases, insulin therapy.
- Gestational diabetes occurs in women during pregnancy and disappears shortly after childbirth. Certain hormones released during pregnancy block your body's ability to produce and utilize insulin, leading to gestational diabetes.
- Type 1 and type 2 diabetes are polygenic forms, which means more than one gene is involved in the triggering of the disease. Monogenic implies that the disease is triggered by the mutation of a single gene.
