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Type 1 diabetes mellitus
Make it clearer
Type 1 diabetes mellitus is an autoimmune disease. That means the immune system, whose normal job is to defend the body, mistakenly recognizes the body's own cells as targets.
In type 1 diabetes, it attacks the cells in the pancreas that produce insulin. Picture a security system that can no longer tell a threat from the equipment that protects the building. When the system destroys that equipment, it also destroys the job that equipment was doing. As the insulin-producing cells are lost, the body loses its source of insulin. This autoimmune attack is the central mechanism that distinguishes type 1 diabetes.
In brief
Type 1 diabetes mellitus is an autoimmune disease, meaning the immune system attacks healthy cells in the body.
The targets are the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas, so the body loses its source of the hormone.
The immune system mistakes insulin-producing cells for a target and gradually destroys the source of the hormone.
Sources (1)
- National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney DiseasesType 1 Diabetes
This page explains the topic in general terms; it does not tell anyone what treatment to follow.
Updated