Frequently asked T1D questions

T1D is not contagious. You can’t catch it like a cold, the flu or chicken pox. Doctors know some things about T1D, but they still don’t know what causes the disease. One thing they are sure of: people living with T1D did not catch it from anyone else. Neither can you!

T1D is an autoimmune disease. For reasons not fully understood, the body’s immune system destroys the insulin-producing beta cells within the pancreas. Without insulin, sugar (glucose) cannot move from the bloodstream into the cells of the body to provide them with the energy they need to function. People with T1D must take insulin manually, either through daily injections or from an insulin pump.

In type 2 diabetes, the pancreas makes some insulin, but either there’s not enough of it or the cells don’t use it well. Children and adults with type 2 diabetes don’t always need to take insulin, as people with T1D do. Type 2 diabetes is often treated with other medication and by eating healthy foods and exercising regularly.

T1D is not caused by eating too much sugar or junk food. You may get problems with your teeth and other bodily systems from eating too much sugar, and you may be unhealthy.

T1D is an autoimmune disease, and it’s actually caused by the autoimmune process. The body’s immune system destroys the beta cells in the pancreas that make insulin – so it’s nothing to do with diet at all!

Insulin is not a cure for T1D, it’s a treatment. Everyone has a pancreas, and everyone needs insulin to live. Everyone with T1D has to make up for the fact that their pancreas no longer makes insulin. They take insulin through injections or an insulin pump.

Scientists are trying to find ways to fix or replace the damaged pancreatic cells in people with T1D. They hope the new cells will once again produce insulin. Now, that would be a cure!

Yes, they can! But like everybody else, they should not eat too much of these types of foods. In truth, there’s actually nothing you can’t eat if you’ve got T1D. As long as the person living with T1D covers it with insulin, they are absolutely fine to be eating the same as everybody else.

Sometimes people living with T1D use devices called insulin pumps or continuous glucose monitors, which they attach to their bodies. But, the truth is, they’re just like everybody else! They look and act perfectly “normal”. It’s only their pancreases that does not work right.

They sure can! Living with T1D may not be easy, but people with the disease can do anything they set their minds to. There are actors, doctors, racing car drivers, footballers, writers, and even Olympic athletes who live with T1D.

You can’t get rid of diabetes because it’s not diet related. So, when people are saying they got rid of their diabetes, they’re likely talking about type 2 diabetes which can be reversible in some cases. For people who live with T1D, the only treatment available right now is insulin.

This is a common myth about T1D. Type 1 diabetes affects people of all shapes and sizes.

Not at all! Around eight Australians are diagnosed with type 1 diabetes every day – and half of them are adults.