Juvenile Diabetes Enrichment Fund » Immune System http://jdef.org Helping Families One At A Time Thu, 23 Jul 2009 02:50:54 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 en hourly 1 What is Juvenile Diabetes http://jdef.org/what-is-juvenile-diabetes/ http://jdef.org/what-is-juvenile-diabetes/#comments Fri, 10 Apr 2009 18:13:28 +0000 admin http://jdef.org/?p=3 Juvenile Diabetes (also called Type 1 Diabetes) is an autoimmune disorder in which a person’s immune system attacks the body’s healthy cells as if they were infections.  More specifically, the body’s immune system attacks the cells of the pancreas (an organ behind the stomach) causing it to produce little or no insulin at all.

juvenile-diabetesInsulin is a hormone that is needed by our body to process the sugar in the foods we eat for energy.  But since Juvenile Diabetes destroys the insulin making cells, the body will stop making it and the affected individual will be unable to metabolize blood glucose.

The most effective course of treatment for Juvenile Diabetes (Type 1 Diabetes) is to inject insulin.  The insulin must be injected into the fatty tissue of the affected individual on a regular basis to control their blood sugar levels.

With the necessary insulin injections, a proper diet and exercise, a Type 1 (or Juvenile) diabetic can live a normal life.

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