What's the difference between Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes?

Susan provided a great overview of the differences, let me just add a couple of things to her posting. Type 1 diabetes is also known as juvenile or insulin-dependent diabetes as it develops during chilhood or adolescence. This type of diabetes is characterized for low or absence of insulin levels hence the need for injecting insulin and monitor blood sugar levels daily at an ealy age. This type of diabetes is thought to involve an autoimmune reaction, where the immune system attacks or damages its own pancreatic cells that produce insulin. There is a medical theory that type 1 diabetes could be the result of a viral infection in early years of life, environmental toxins or food allergies. CDC data indicates that perhaps 5 to 10 percent of U.S. cases account for this type of diabetes.

Type 2 diabetes (also known as adult onset or non-insulind dependent diabetes) is by far the most common and we are seeing numbers of cases in epidemic proportions not just in this country but in many other countries. Just in the U.S. the numbers are cripping up among children. This type of diabetes is believed to be And although people with type 2 diabetes can still produce sufficient insulin, this insulin and the glucose it tranports cannot enter cells effectively. Type 2 diabetes is with no question linked to poor eating habits and diets high in refined carbohydrates and low fiber as well as lack of exercise, stress, hormonal imbalance and obesity. So, type 2 diabetes can be treated effectively with proper diet, exercise, and adding nutritional supplements such as chromium picolinate, zinc, vitamin D, fish oils, cinnammon, etc.

A third type of diabetes manifests during pregancy and it is called gestational diabetes which occurs among some women during pregancy. This will resolved once the pregnancy is over but women with this condition will have to watch their nutrition as gestational diabetes signals a tendency to develop Type 2 diabetes later in life.

There is a great book that can help prevent and reverse insulin resistance a pre-diabetes condition that if ignored can lead to diabetes and serious heart conditions. This is called Syndrome X, I read the book after developing gestational diabetes with my first child.

Syndrome X: The Complete Nutritional Program to Prevent and Reverse Insulin Resistance (Paperback)
by Jack Challem, Burton Berkson and Melissa Diane Smith