A Dummy’s Guide to the Differences Between Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes

Here’s a simple, short and accurate description of the differences between the two types of diabetes.

Many are confused about this so it’s worth knowing, and worth understand-ing that Type 1 is a disease of the metabolic system. Usually affecting people younger than 30 – formerly referred to as Juvenile Diabetes because it often hit kids younger than 18 – this disease has an unknown cause. Generally the pancreas stops putting out insulin, a hormone necessary to move blood sugars into muscles and organs – especially the brain – for fuel.

Type 2, while also a disease of the metabolic system, is caused largely by lifestyle choices. Often referred to as Adult-Onset Diabetes because it used to be something that happened over time as a result of sedentariness and obesity whereby the muscles, the primary user of blood sugars, become resistant to the insulin the pancreas does put out. Furthermore, as we age, we lose some of our capacity to manage sugar loads; exercise has been shown to enhance this capacity, however.

However, with rising rates of overweightness and obesity among young people, doctors are now treating many under the age of 30 for pre- Type 2 diabetes. That is, many Americans are living lifestyles that are gradually condemning them to a life-altering disease that will cause heart disease, increase risk of strokes, damage kidneys and eyes, and lead to lower extremity disorders such as peripheral neuropathy and maybe amputation.

The article differentiates the causes, symptoms, means of prevention, the relationship to low blood sugar and their treatments. I have written here and here and here and here and here about diabetes but this makes it simple, even for me.