Handbook of Retinal Screening in Diabetes
Chapter One
Type 1 Diabetes
What causes type 1 diabetes?
Diabetes is a disorder in which blood glucose levels are high. In normal
health, blood glucose levels are precisely controlled by the hormone insulin.
This is made by the beta cells in the pancreas gland, an organ behind the
stomach. Minute to minute control of insulin production by the beta cells
normally keeps blood glucose levels constant. After a meal, the rate of insulin
production rises sharply.
Type 1 diabetes is the result of destruction of the beta cells in the pancreas.
This is most often caused by the body's defence mechanisms attacking the cells
as though they were invaders (an 'autoimmune' process). The process of beta
cell destruction happens over a period of many months, but symptoms can start
very suddenly once the number of functioning beta cells falls to a critical level.
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