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There are major differences between Type I and Type II diabetes. This is by no way my saying one is easier or harder to handle the other. I get perturbed when people say, "That's the serious one." Actually, they're both serious. Pull your head out of your ass.

Type II is when one's body becomes immune of resistant to the insulin it's pancreas creates. The Blood sugar levels of a Type II can be controlled by diet, exercise, or a pill that helps... in some way. My knowledge of Type II is limited; I admit that. I. Have heard of some Type IIs who take insulin becuse they aren't in enough control to work with the first three ways of control.
Stereotypically, the body's resistance to insulin comes from over use. I'm not saying "all Type IIs are over weight," but generally people who load up on sugar and carbs (what insulin counteracts to keep your blood sugar down)... need I go on?

Type I diabetes usually comes on before the age of 40. It's known as "juvenile diabetes" or "early onset." Some can get it before memories start, making it all they know. There are many contributing factors from being a big baby, to gestational diabetes. Contrary to popular belief, genes play a very small factor. Someone who has Type I actually has a statistically smaller chance of having a child with Type I. Then the odds return to normal. But when a Type I's grandchild is diagnosed, everyone is quick to judge and blame.

Type I is brought on by the body attempting to protect itself. The body's white blood cells are made to remove alien objects and diseases. Type I occurs when the body sees the pancreas and it's cells which produce insulin, as a threat. This can also happen if something happens in the pancreas making those defensive cells need to enter to protect their vessel. If the white blood cells become confused - insulin is created by the body, but it is created by and new. It isn't always there - they will attack the insulin and insulin creating cells (the beta cells) within the pancreas, making the body unable to continue to create this much needed hormone. This is how Type I diabetes comes about.

Recently Dr Michael Christie at University of Lincoln found the last of the cells the body fought against to make people Type I diabetics. "We have now finished identifying what the immune system is targeting - we have the complete picture." This is a ground breaking find; it will allow those who may become Type I a fighting chance to resist the change their bodies are imposing. It will be the humans version of Type II on diabetes. On top of this it can change the current treatments for current Type Is.

Unfortunately, Type Is will always remain Type Is as their bodies have learned to not produce the insulin hormone, and the beta cells that create the hormone have been destroyed. But the knowledge of what the body is fighting and destroying can help care for the future.

We can just hope that the bionic pancreas currently in FDA testing takes off, and isn't too cumbersome or crippling of physical activities. We can hope, right?

These recent finds are huge. Not only that, they aren't Canadian based, but from the UK. Most finds about diabetes have been Canadian, all the way back to insulin from Sir Frederick Banting, Charles Best, James Collip, and John Macleod, at the University of Toronto in 1922.