Fast facts about type 1 diabetes
How do you explain type 1 diabetes to a young child?
Short answer: Diabetes is when our brain and muscles can't get the fuel they need because a chemical called insulin is missing from the body. Without insulin we become very ill. If a person with diabetes injects insulin, his brain and muscles work just fine again.
Want to know more?
You know that a car needs fuel (gas, petrol) to drive?
The body needs fuel to move about, work and play. The body's fuel is called glucose
You can't start a car without a key. Even if the tank is full of gas, the car won't work without a key.
Insulin is the body's key. It makes sure that glucose, the body's gas, reaches your muscles so you can work and play.
In most people, the body makes its own insulin. If the body cannot make insulin, it'scalled diabetes.
For a car to work, you need gas and a key. For a body to work, you need glucose and insulin. It won't work if you only have insulin or if only have glucose. You need both.
If your body has a key (insulin) and no fuel (glucose), you have low blood sugar. If you have no key (insulin), but you have fuel (glucose), you have high blood sugar.
By David Hay Jones
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