Type 1 diabetes, formerly called insulin-dependent diabetes, usually appears in childhood or adolescence. It is most often declared by intense thirst and rapid weight loss.

It’s about a autoimmune disease : it is due to a deregulation of the immune cells, which turn against the organism itself and more particularly destroy the cells of the pancreas called beta cells (grouped together in the islets of Langherans).

However, these cells have a crucial function: they secrete insulin, a hormone that allows glucose (sugar) to enter the body’s cells and be stored and used there. Without insulin, glucose stays in the blood and causes “hyperglycemia”, which can have serious short- and long-term consequences.

The only possible treatment for type 1 diabetes is therefore the injection of insulin, aimed at compensating for the destruction of beta cells. These insulin injections are also called insulinothérapie.