In Type 1, or
juvenile diabetes, the hormone insulin does not work the way it should and
blood levels can go out of control. People with this form of diabetes need to
be given insulin to control the blood sugar and help with the basic metabolic
pathways of the body. There is a theory that for some reason the body's immune
system actually attacks insulin. This is why it doesn't work. Scientists have
struggled to understand what causes the body to turn against itself in Type 1 diabetes.
Essentially, the immune system destroys pancreatic cells that normally produce
the blood sugar regulating hormone insulin. Researchers have struggled to find
out why. That's because it is a disease that affects one in every 400 to 500
children and adolescents in the United States. According to a report in the
journal Nature, scientists studied mice that actually developed Type 1 diabetes
and engineered them to lack normal insulin. Using those mice, they are trying
to do what they can to find out secrets.
