Juvenile Diabetes Foundation walk May 16 Diabetes definitions To clarify the difference between Type One and Type Two diabetes, Mark Roberts of JDF offers these definitions. Type One diabetes often is called juvenile diabetes because it's an auto-immune disease triggered by a virus that typically attacks those under the age of 20, but can affect people up to 40. Some one million people in the U.S. have the genetic tendency towards this disease.
Treatment requires two to four shots per day.
Type Two diabetes also is known as adult onset diabetes and attacks those over 40 with a genetic tendency toward the disease. Unlike juvenile diabetes, adult onset takes time to develop and typically affects people who are overweight. The disease causes the pancreas to produce an abundance of insulin but prevents the cells from allowing insulin to enter through the cell walls. Some 12 million people in the U.S. have adult onset diabetes and usually are able to control it through diet or shots. If untreated, both diseases lead to deaththe individual dies from starvation because the cells have no way of using food.