Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease in which the body's immune system attacks a child's pancreas islet cells that produce insulin. Without insulin, the body cannot use food for fuel. The person will die without insulin, there is no cure, and it is forever. 40 kids will be diagnosed today. 

• Taking insulin does not cure diabetes.  Insulin keeps people with type 1 diabetes alive, but does not cure the disease. While progress toward finding a cure has been substantial, there is still no cure for diabetes.

• Type 1 is not caused by obesity or eating too much sugar. While obesity has been identified as one of the “triggers” for type 2 diabetes, it has no relation to the cause of type 1 diabetes. Scientists do not yet know exactly what causes type 1diabetes, but they believe that both genetic and environmental factors are involved. Eating too much sugar is not a factor.

• Type 1 is not contagious.

• You can eat sugar and carbohydrates when you have Type 1
  But, like for every other person in the world, balance and moderation are key. We all need carbs for energy and sweet treats sure are nice! T1 diabetics are not doomed to a life in artificial sweetener purgatory; they just need to keep the refined sugars to a minimum.

• Math is your friend!! Math is not my forte but my son's well being depends on it. When you have type 1, you are always calculating - carbs, correction factors, insulin to carb ratios. Being a T1 or a parent of one requires making friends with your calculator and your left brain.

• Not being alert is not an option -
  When you wake up in the morning all bleary eyed because you have a toddler who likes to go to bed late and get up early, you might put the coffee water on to boil first but then its time to get the insulin out of the fridge. You need to warm it up, rub the sleep out of your eyes, and make sure you can see clearly because you better get those morning doses of insulin correct. Staring at a syringe with tiny numbers and lines on it before coffee is always a challenge.

• Getting out of the house takes a little more effort.
  You can't just throw on your coat and head out the door anymore. Don't forget your insulin, syringes, snacks, swabs, test strips, glucagon, and juice/glucose tabs/cake gel. Better make sure you have some free food snacks and some with carbs while you are at it.

• With strict adherence to a specific diet and exercise plan, and multiple insulin injections each day based on careful monitoring of blood sugar levels, a person with type 1diabetes can gain some control over his or her blood sugar levels. While the above strategy is the most effective way to achieve and maintain tight control of blood sugar levels, optimal blood sugar control can be very difficult for some patients. Many factors, including stress, hormone changes, periods of growth, and illness can easily cause blood sugar to swing out of control. Teenagers in particular might be susceptible to this problem, as their bodies go through many changes during adolescence. Also, some people with type 1 diabetes find that even though they strive for tight control and follow their meal plan and insulin schedule, they still experience rapid fluctuations in their blood glucose. Those fluctuations do not mean the person with diabetes has done anything wrong. (See jdrf.org)

• Diabetes kills more people than breast cancer and AIDS combined in the United States. So, if you know someone who fights this battle, encourage them. They are in a fight for their health and life.