This is due to the auto-immune destruction of pancreatic beta cells which usually begins between ten and 20 years of age. Treatment is usually by injecting insulin. Type 2 diabetes is not thought to be auto-immune in origin. It usually occurs in middle life. The main symptoms are severe lethargy, dry skin and hair, and damage to the nerves in the limbs.
More women suffer from the disease than men in a ratio of five to one.
Treatment is long-term replacement using thyroxine tablets. Graves' disease is associated with overactivity of the thyroid gland. Antibodies bind to and stimulate hormone receptors on the surface of the gland, increasing its production of thyroxine. People with Graves' disease often have protruding eyeballs, suffer weight loss, anxiety, tremor of the hands and have a fast pulse. Sufferers are usually women in their 40s and the ratio of female to male sufferers is seven to one.