In most people with type 1 diabetes, the immune system that normally fight harmful bacteria and viruses turned out to destroy the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas.
Genetic factors may play a role in this process and exposure to certain viruses may trigger type 1 diabetes in children.
Whatever the cause, after pancreatic islet cells were destroyed, only the child's body will produce little or no insulin at all.
Normally, the hormone insulin helps glucose enter the body's cells to provide energy to the muscles and tissues. Insulin comes from the pancreas, a gland located just behind the stomach.
When everything is working properly, after a meal, the pancreas secrete more insulin into the bloodstream.
Insulin acts like a key that opens doors that allow sugar to enter microscopic cells of the body.
Insulin lowers the amount of sugar in the blood stream and when the sugar level decreases, so does the secretion of insulin from the pancreas.
The liver acts as a glucose storage. When insulin levels are low - for example, when not eating for a while - the liver releases glycogen reserves.
Glycogen is then converted into glucose which is used to keep blood sugar levels within normal limits.
Dangerous levels of sugar in the bloodstream
In type 1 diabetes, the normal mechanism is not the case. In patients with type-1 diabetes, no insulin or insulin amount to very little so glucose can not enter the cells optimally.
So instead of being transported into the cells, sugar builds up in the blood stream so that the child can cause complications that can be life-threatening.
Causes of type 1 diabetes is different from type-2 diabetes in general. In type-2, islet cells are still functioning, but the body becomes resistant to insulin or in other cases, the pancreas does not produce enough insulin.
