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Diabetes Facts
Short, simple facts. Every one has a source you can check.
I am not a medical professional
I am not a doctor or a nurse. I am a person who has lived with Type 1 diabetes for many years — since I was five. What you read here is my own story and my own experience. It is not medical advice. Please seek proper advice from your own diabetes team before you change anything about your treatment.
Type 1 is an autoimmune condition.
The body attacks the cells that make insulin. It is not caused by sugar or weight, and it can't be prevented.
Source: NHS(opens in a new tab)9.5 million people
About 9.5 million people worldwide lived with Type 1 in 2025.
Source: Breakthrough T1D / T1D Index(opens in a new tab)Type 1 isn't just for children.
The typical age at diagnosis worldwide in 2021 was 29.
Source: The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, 2022(opens in a new tab)About 1 in 9 adults
589 million adults live with diabetes.
Source: IDF Diabetes Atlas 2025(opens in a new tab)Diabetes in the UK
4.7 million people in the UK have a diabetes diagnosis. About 8% have Type 1.
Source: Diabetes UK(opens in a new tab)Insulin changed everything.
Before insulin in 1922, Type 1 was a death sentence. Leonard Thompson, aged 14, was the first person treated, in Toronto.
Source: University of Toronto, Fisher Library(opens in a new tab)Exercise can lower blood sugar for hours.
Muscles keep using sugar after you stop moving.
Source: Diabetes UK(opens in a new tab)A ‘hypo’ means blood sugar is too low.
It can make you shaky or confused. Fast sugar, like juice, helps.
Source: NHS(opens in a new tab)Carbs turn into sugar in your blood.
Bread, rice, fruit and pasta all count. That is why people with diabetes count carbs.
Source: NHS(opens in a new tab)