Hello and welcome to the Zero to Finals podcast.

My name is Tom and in this episode I'm going to be talking to you about Type 1 diabetes.

And you can find written notes on this topic at 0.0.com slash type 1 diabetes

or in the endocrinology section of the zero to finals medicine book.

So let's get straight into it.

Type 1 diabetes is a condition where the pancreas stops being able to produce an adequate

amount of insulin.

Without insulin, the cells of the body cannot absorb glucose from the blood and use

it as fuel. Therefore, the cells think that there's no glucose available. Meanwhile, the glucose

level will keep rising, causing hyperglycemia or a high glucose level. The underlying cause of type 1 diabetes is unclear.

There may be a genetic component, but it's not inherited in any clear pattern.

Certain viruses, such as the Coxsacky B and entrovirus, may trigger it.

Type 1 diabetes may present with the classic triad of symptoms of hyperglycemia,

which is polyurea, meaning excessive urine,

polydipsia, which means excessive thirst,

and weight loss, mainly due to dehydration.

Alternatively, patients may present with diabetic ketoacidosis.

Let's start with some basic physiology on glucose metabolism.

Eating carbohydrates causes a rise in blood glucose levels, the carbohydrates are absorbed from the small intestine into the blood. As the body uses these carbohydrates for energy, there's a fall

in the blood glucose level. The body ideally wants to keep blood glucose concentration

between 4.4 and 6.1 millimoles per

liter. Insulin is a hormone produced by the beta cells in the islets of Langerhans in the pancreas.

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