The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), founded by parents of children with type 1 diabetes, is the worlds largest provider of charity-based funding for type 1 diabetes research. Other charities include the American Diabetes Association, Diabetes UK, Diabetes Research and Wellness Foundation, Diabetes Australia, the Canadian Diabetes Association. A number of approaches have been explored to understand causes and provide treatments for type 1. Prevention
Type 1 diabetes is not currently preventable. Several trials have attempted dietary interventions with the hope of reducing the autoimmunity that leads to type 1 diabetes. Trials that withheld cows milk or gave infants formula free of bovine insulin decreased the development of β-cell-targeted antibodies, but did not prevent the development of type 1 diabetes. Similarly, trials that gave high-risk individuals injected insulin, oral insulin, or nicotinamide did not prevent diabetes development.Other research has focused on treating high-risk individuals with immunosuppressive agents to prevent beta cell destruction. Large trials of cyclosporine treatment suggested that cyclosporine could improve insulin secretion in those recently diagnosed with type 1 diabetes; however, people who stopped taking cyclosporine rapidly stopped making insulin, and cyclosporines kidney toxicity and increased risk of cancer prevented people from using it long-term. Several other immunosuppressive agents – prednisone, azathioprine, anti-thymocyte globulin, mycophenolate, and antibodies against CD20 and IL2 receptor α – have been the subject of research, but none have provided lasting protection from development of type 1 diabetes.
Long-term complications include heart disease, stroke, kidney failure, foot ulcers and damage to the eyes. Furthermore, since insulin lowers blood sugar levels, complications may arise from low blood sugar if more insulin is taken than necessary.Type 1 diabetes makes up an estimated 5–10% of all diabetes cases. The number of people affected globally is unknown, although it is estimated that about 80,000 children develop the disease each year. Within the United States the number of people affected is estimated at one to three million. Rates of disease vary widely, with approximately one new case per 100,000 per year in East Asia and Latin America and around 30 new cases per 100,000 per year in Scandinavia and Kuwait. It typically begins in children and young adults. Signs and symptoms
Type 1 diabetes begins suddenly, typically in childhood or adolescence. The major sign of type 1 diabetes is very high blood sugar, which typically manifests in children as a few days to weeks of polyuria (increased urination), polydipsia (increased thirst), and weight loss. Children may also experience increased appetite, blurred vision, bedwetting, recurrent skin infections, candidiasis of the perineum, irritability, and performance issues at school. Adults with type 1 diabetes tend to have more varied symptoms that come on over months rather than days to weeks.Prolonged lack of insulin can also result in diabetic ketoacidosis, characterized by persistent fatigue, dry or flushed skin, abdominal pain, nausea or vomiting, confusion, trouble breathing, and a fruity breath odor.