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Type 1 diabetes

Information for children and young people about type 1 diabetes.

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When you have diabetes your body doesn’t make enough insulin, so glucose can’t get into the cells.

Instead it collects in your blood and isn’t turned into energy. As more and more glucose builds up, your body gets rid of some in your wee (urine).

This makes you:

  • Go to the toilet more often

  • Feel thirsty

  • Lose weight

  • Feel tired

Having diabetes means that your pancreas does not make enough insulin. The pancreas is a gland in your body.

Sugar is a fuel used by the body to give you energy and make you feel well. The main sugar in the body is glucose. Glucose needs to get into the cells in your body to give you energy.

Insulin is like a key; it opens the door to the cells in your body and allows the glucose to enter. Insulin lowers the level of glucose in your bloodstream.

Once it has been discovered that you have diabetes, insulin replacement will be started by giving injections. It may sound scary, but the good news is that you will start to feel well again because the injections will lower your blood glucose by allowing the sugar to get into the cells.