Most people know that there are 2 types of diabetes, but many do not understand that they have very different causes – indeed the symptoms can be similar in the end stages of this disease, but in the beginning stages of diabetes, the changes that are happening in the body are incredibly different between diabetes type 1 and diabetes type 2. To put it in a nutshell we can say - Diabetes type 1 is an autoimmune disease caused by your immune system attacking the insulin producing cells in your pancreas – once these beta cells are destroyed, your pancreas can never produce enough insulin. This is a permanent disease but can still be helped with nutritional medicine and of course insulin therapy. Diabetes type 2 is a disease caused by your insulin not working properly because your cells have become resistant to the insulin. In people with type 2 diabetes there is often too much insulin present in the body. The insulin does not work efficiently, so to compensate your pancreas keeps on making more and more insulin. The difference between diabetes type1 and diabetes type 2 can be diagnosed with a 2-hour Glucose Tolerance Test (GTT) where it is essential to measure both the levels of blood sugar and blood insulin after a load of glucose is given to the patient in a sugary drink. In both diabetes type 1 and diabetes type 2 the blood sugar rises too high. However, in diabetes type 1, the insulin levels remain low and inadequate, and in diabetes type 2 the insulin levels rise way too high. It is a pity that insulin levels are not routinely measured during a GTT and so the type of diabetes is often not differentiated between type 1 and type 2, especially in the early stages. In diabetes type 1, where insulin levels are inadequate, it is essential that the patient is prescribed insulin, and oral drugs do not work well. Insulin can be given as injections (which have a tiny painless needle) or the wonderfully effective insulin pump. This insulin therapy can control blood sugar levels very well and thus prevent the complications of diabetes. It is interesting to note that in people with diabetes type 1, there is often weight loss due to loss of muscle and fat. In contrast in people with diabetes type 2, there is usually weight excess with fat accumulating in the liver, abdomen and upper body. This provides an important clue! Recently I saw a 61-year-old woman with multiple autoimmune diseases, namely Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, premature menopause and diabetes type 1. These diseases had been caused by her immune system attacking her thyroid gland, ovaries and pancreas. The diagnosis of her type 1 diabetes had been delayed and missed for nearly a decade, as no one had ever tested her insulin levels, and she had been prescribed oral drugs for diabetes which did not control her blood sugar levels. She needed insulin but did not get it, so she suffered frequent infections and fatigue for years. She was a slim woman and never battled with excess weight, which was a big clue that she needed insulin and had diabetes type 1 and not diabetes type 2. She had the results of a previous blood test which showed she has very high levels of auto-antibodies called GAD antibodies and IA-2 antibodies which are found in 80% of newly diagnosed Type 1 diabetics. This patient has been very well after receiving an insulin pump. To learn more about autoimmune diseases, see my book titled Healing Autoimmune Disease. To learn how to reverse Diabetes type 2, see my book titled Diabetes Type 2- You Can Reverse It and read about the benefits of berberine. The above statements have not been evaluated by the FDA and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.