Type 1 Diabetes |
Type 2 Diabetes |
|
|---|---|---|
| What kind of condition is it? | Autoimmune condition | Metabolic condition |
| Can children get it? | Yes. When a child in Canada is diagnosed with diabetes, it is usually type 1 diabetes. | Yes, but it’s unusual. When a child in Canada is diagnosed with diabetes, it is usually not type 2 diabetes |
| How common is it? | About 5-10% of all cases of diabetes are type 1. | About 90-95% of all cases of diabetes are type 2. |
| Why does it happen? | The immune system attacks cells in the pancreas that make insulin. | Cells in the body start to have trouble responding to insulin and become “insulin-resistant.” |
| Will the person need to take insulin? | Yes, always. | Sometimes. |
| When does it happen? | It can happen at any age, but commonly happens before age 30, often in childhood. | It can happen at any age, but most commonly happens among older people. |
| Does it run in families? | Yes. However, because type 1 is fairly rare, you won’t always know that it’s in your family. About 85-90% of people with type 1 diabetes are the only one in their family. | Yes. And because type 2 diabetes is fairly common, if you have a family history of type 2 diabetes, you’ll often have relatives with it. |
| Who is at higher risk? | People who have a close family member (parent, sibling, aunt/uncle) with type 1 diabetes have a 15 times greater risk of developing type 1 diabetes.
Genetic factors can also give people an increased risk of developing type 1 diabetes. Genetic factors can be determined with a genetic test. People with related autoimmune conditions like celiac disease may also be at higher risk. (And people with type 1 diabetes are at higher risk of celiac disease and autoimmune thyroid disease, as well as other diseases.) |
People who have family members with type 2 diabetes are at higher risk.
People who have extra weight or obesity, or who have other metabolic conditions are at higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes. People in Canada of African, Arab, Asian, Hispanic, Indigenous or South Asian descent are at higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes than people with other backgrounds. People who had gestational diabetes during pregnancy or whose mother had gestational diabetes during pregnancy may also be at higher risk of type 2 diabetes. |
| Is it preventable? | Not yet. There is a new preventive treatment (teplizumab) that may delay its onset, but it needs to be taken before too many insulin-producing cells are destroyed. | Sometimes yes. By reducing their weight and becoming more active, some people are able to prevent type 2 diabetes, at least for a while. Some people do everything “right” and still develop it. |