Insulin Dependent Diabetes

With some diabetic patients, the hormone insulin may be absent, yet necessary for their survival. This type of diabetes is called Insulin dependent diabetes (Type 1 diabetes)and has insulin as its mainstay of therapy. This is a less common form of diabetes and the cause is unknown.

In Type 1 diabetes the beta cells that produce the insulin are erroneously attacked by the body’s immune system. Hence, the pancreas struggles to produce enough insulin to keep the blood sugar levels down. This invariably leads to dependency on synthetic insulin to compensate the lack of insulin in the body.Hence, all patients diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes will eventually require insulin. This is because insulin treatment replaces or supplements the body's own insulin, restoring normal or near-normal blood sugar levels.

Of late, Insulin therapy has changed with improved insulin delivery methods. Gone are the days when being insulin dependent meant carrying around a syringe and a vial of insulin to deliver your insulin injections, while making sure to keep the insulin dose refrigerated. Today, a variety of methods for insulin delivery are available in the market, ranging from insulin pens, insulin pumps, insulin jet injectors, insulin patch to insulin inhalers.