Type 1 diabetes affects about 10% of diabetic patients and usually occurs during childhood or adolescence. In type 1 diabetes, the pancreas does not produce insulin due to the destruction of the cells that produce this hormone, called beta cells: it must therefore be injected every day and for life. The rate of beta cell destruction is quite variable, however, so that the onset of the disease can occur rapidly in some people, usually in children and adolescents, and more slowly in adults. In this case, which happens more rarely, we speak of a form called LADA (Late Autoimmune Diabetes in Adults).
The exact causes of the onset of type 1 diabetes remain unknown. Type 1 diabetes is classified among the so-called “autoimmune” diseases, that means it is due to an immune reaction directed against the body itself.
Source: International Diabetes Federation
Type 1 diabetes (idf.org)
