Identification

• Type 1 diabetes, also known as insulin-dependent diabetes or juvenile diabetes, accounts for between 5 to 10 percent of all diagnosed cases of diabetes in the United States and Europe. Type 1 diabetes usually first occurs in children or young adults, although it can affect older people as well. This kind of diabetes requires daily insulin injections to maintain blood sugar levels within a normal range. Without enough insulin, blood glucose becomes dangerously high.
  
  

Idiopathic and Autoimmune Type 1

• A very small percentage of Type 1 diabetes cases are of the idiopathic type, meaning researchers haven't determined any cause. Nearly all cases of Type 1 diabetes, however, result from a disorder in which the body's immune system destroys insulin-producing beta cells in the Islets of Langerhans, located in the pancreas. In this autoimmune disorder, certain proteins trigger an attack by cytokines--produced by white blood cells called T lymphocytes--against the insulin-producing cells. The proteins include insulin and islet cell antigens, so they essentially create a self-attack.
  
  

Genetics

• According to the University of Maryland Medical Center, genetic factors are one probable cause of this autoimmune disorder. Researchers have discovered 18 genetic locations related to Type 1 diabetes, and they assume more possibilities exist. However, scientists state that genetics doesn't explain the rapid increase in Type 1 diabetes cases in the United States and some European countries.
  
  

Viruses

• A second factor that researchers theorize may work in combination with genetic abnormalities is a viral infection. This viral protein would resemble a beta cell, and antibodies are then tricked into attacking the viral protein and the insulin-producing beta cells. The University of Maryland Medical Center notes that researchers of Type 1 diabetes are studying enteric viruses that affect the intestinal tract, particularly Coxsackie viruses. Epidemics of Coxsackie virus, mumps and congenital rubella all have been linked to a higher incidence of Type 1 diabetes.