What Is Type 1 Diabetes?

Your body changes most of the food you eat into a form of sugar (also called glucose). 

Insulin is a hormone that allows this sugar to enter all the cells of your body and be used as energy.

A person who has type 1 diabetes can't make insulin.

Without insulin, sugar builds up in the blood and can damage internal organs, the nervous system and blood vessels.

Type 1 diabetes is also called insulin-dependent diabetes. 

It is sometimes called juvenile diabetes because it is usually discovered in children and teenagers, but adults may also have it.