Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus

Diagnosis

Diabetes is diagnosed by testing the blood for sugar levels. With the fasting plasma glucose (FPG) test, blood is taken in the morning after fasting (not eating anything) overnight. Typically, the body keeps blood sugar levels between 70 and 100 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL), even after fasting. Diabetes is diagnosed if a blood sugar level after fasting is greater than 126 mg/dL. Another test, the oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) involves measuring the blood sugar level two hours after drinking 75 grams of glucose. Diabetes is diagnosed if the two hour blood sugar level is 200 mg/dL or higher. The American Diabetes Association recommends the FPG because it is easier, faster, and less expensive to perform.

Expected Duration

Type 1 diabetes is a lifelong disease. People with type 1 diabetes need regular checkups, careful daily monitoring of blood sugar levels, and insulin treatment for life.

A small number of people with diabetes who require kidney transplants because of severe kidney damage from the disease can become exceptions to this rule. That's because a pancreas transplant occasionally can be performed at the same time that a kidney transplant is done. Since the new pancreas can make insulin, this can cure the diabetes. However, because organ transplantation requires people to take medicines that suppress the immune system for the rest of their lives, this treatment is not recommended routinely.