There are two types of diabetes. One is type 2 diabetes, which is 95 percent of the cases of diabetes. It’s usually associated with a person who is getting older, but also the risk factors of getting type 2 diabetes is there is a little bit of genetics, so if a parent or siblings have type 2 diabetes, if we’re overweight, if we’re eating too much, if we’re not moving around enough, most of the time it develops as our ages progress, so age is a risk factor for developing type 2 diabetes. The difference between type 2 diabetes and type 1 diabetes is that in type 2 diabetes, there is insulin available to use for storage of calories. That, over time, depletes, and therefore, the blood sugars rise and people need to add medications or insulin to their regimen to control their blood sugars. In type 1 diabetes, the insulin supply in our pancreas actually gets degraded or broken down or destroyed by our immune systems. There are some genetics related to type 1 diabetes, but it’s not as prevalent as type 2 diabetes. Type 1 diabetes typically occurs in lean, young individuals; however, there are some instances where older individuals can be diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.
