Diabetes Type 1 and Type 2 Comparison

1. What is Diabetes?

Diabetes (otherwise known as diabetes mellitus, DM) is defined as a metabolic disorder in which body cannot properly store and use fuel for energy.

Fuel that our body needs is glucose (sugar). Glucose comes through various foods cereals, breads, pasta, rice, potatoes, fruits and some vegetables and also made in our liver and muscles. Blood is the medium through which all the glucose is carried to our body cells to use for energy.

To use glucose, our body needs insulin. Insulin is the hormone prepared by a gland in our body called the pancreas. Insulin standardizes blood glucose by stimulating the removal of glucose from the blood and its uptake into muscle, liver and fat cells where it can be stored for energy.

Diabetic patients measure glucose blood levels using a glucometer, small drop of blood from finger and a test strip.

How to Prevent Diabetes?- Video

Sometimes our body does not make sufficient insulin or the insulin does not work the way it should. Glucose then stays in your blood and does not reach our cells. Our blood glucose levels get too high (hyperglycemia) and can cause diabetes or prediabetes. Prediabetes is when blood glucose levels are higher than usual but not high enough for a diagnosis of diabetes. Over time, having extra glucose in our blood can cause health problems.

v Fast Facts
v 25.8 million Children and adults in the United States - 8.3% of the population - have diabetes.2
v 1.9 million New cases of diabetes are diagnosed in people aged 20 years and older in 2010.2
v 13.0 million Or 11.8% of all men aged 20 years or older have diabetes.2
v 12.6 million Or 10.8% of all women aged 20 years or older have diabetes.2
v Diabetes contributed to 231,404 deaths in the US in 2007.2
v $245 billion: Total costs of diagnosed diabetes in the United States in 2012.2
v Only 5% of people with diabetes have type 1. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease that may be caused by genetic, environmental, or other factors.2
v Type 2 diabetes accounts for 90%-95% of diabetes cases and is usually associated with older age, obesity and physical inactivity, family history of type 2 diabetes, or a personal history of gestational diabetes.2
v There is no known way to prevent diabetes type 1. Effective treatment requires the use of insulin.
v Type 2 diabetes can be prevented through healthy food choices, physical activity, and weight loss. It can be controlled with these same activities, but insulin or oral medication also may be necessary.

People with type 1 and sometimes type 2 diabetes are treated with insulin injections to control blood glucose levels.

What is Diabetes?- Video

2. What is diabetes type 1 and type 2?

There are two kinds of diabetes, type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes. These two diabetes forms have numerous key differences, for example the disparities in cause, symptoms, distinctiveness, management, also relating to whom it affects and what happens in the body because of this disease.

The easiest way to find out the differentiation, as well as similarities between the two, is through comparing the type 1 with type 2 diabetes, comparisons will be made across the various sections in this page.

Proposed target blood glucose level ranges for non-diabetic and diabetes type 1 and type 2

For the majority of healthy individuals, normal blood glucose level in humans is about 4 mmol/L or 72 mg/dL.3-5

Insulin is like a key that opens up the locks on your body's cells so that glucose (blood sugar) can get inside and be used for energy. If the glucose can not get into your cells, it builds up in your blood stream. If left untreated, high blood glucose can cause long-term complications.

Target glucose levels by type	Glucose levels before meals	Glucose levels 2 hours after meals
Non-diabetic	4.0 to 5.9 mmol/L	Under 7.8 mmol/L
Diabetes type 2	4 to 7 mmol/L	Under 8.5 mmol/L
Diabetes type 1	4 to 7 mmol/L	Under 9 mmol/L
Children with diabetes type 1	4 to 8 mmol/L	Under 10 mmol/L

Diabetes may commence because the pancreatic beta cells, which produce insulin, are obliterated by an autoimmune disorder, giving rise to type I diabetes. Alternatively, the body cells may not respond to insulin that is being made at the proper levels (insulin resistance) resulting in type 2 diabetes, often as a result of obesity, and deficient insulin secretion.

Insulin use not only avoids hyperglycemic emergencies, but also is the best defend to prevent the long-term complications of diabetes by correcting fasting and postprandial hyperglycemia.

Both of these major diabetes types are believed to include different stages of disease, ranging from non-insulin-requiring to insulin-requiring for control or survival.

Type 1 Diabetes Type 2 Diabetes

Cause	Beta cells in pancreas are being attacked by body's own cells and therefore can not produce insulin to take sugar out of the blood stream. Insulin is not produced.	Diet related insulin release is so large and frequent that receptor cells have become less sensitive to the insulin. This insulin resistance results in less sugar being removed from the blood.
Genetic basis	Possibly. In most cases of type 1 diabetes, the patient would need to inherit risk factors from both parents.	Type 2 diabetes has a stronger link to family history and lineage than type 1.
Bodily effects	Thought to be triggered by autoimmune destruction of the beta cells. Autoimmune attack may occur following a viral infection such as mumps, rubella cytomegalovirus.	Appears to be related to aging, inactive lifestyle, genetic influence and obesity.
Climate	One trigger might be related to cold weather. Type 1 diabetes develops more often in winter than summer and is more common in places with cold climates.
Diet	Early diet may also play a role. Type 1 diabetes is less common in people who were breastfed and in those who first ate solid foods at later ages.	Obesity tends to run in families, and families tend to have similar eating and exercise habits.

Signs and symptoms of diabetes type 1 and type 2

There are numerous medical consequences of persistently high levels of blood glucose. The most serious involve kidney failure, eye problems (blindness) and increased risk of cardiovascular problems (e.g., heart attacks and stroke).

	Diabetes type 1	Diabetes type 2
Warning signs	Very thirsty Urinating frequently Rapid weight loss Feeling very hungry Feeling extreme weakness and fatigue Nausea, vomiting, irritability.	Very thirsty Urinating frequently Rapid weight loss Feeling very hungry Feeling extreme weakness and fatigue Nausea, vomiting, irritability Blurred vision Excessive itching Skin infections Sores that heal slowly Dry, itchy skin Pins and needles or numbness in feet.
Commonly physical attributes found	Mostly normal or thin.	Mostly overweight or obese.
Onset	Rapid (weeks) - often present acutely with ketoacidosis.	Slow (years).
Complications	Diabetic coma or ketoacidosis (from high blood sugar) High blood pressure Hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) Nephropathy Blindness Heart attack Kidney disease Stroke Neuropathy Amputation.	Diabetic coma or ketoacidosis (from high blood sugar) High blood pressure Hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) Nephropathy Blindness Heart attack Kidney disease Stroke Neuropathy Amputation.