Type 1 Diabetes, (sometimes called Juvenile Diabetes) is usually found in young children and teenagers, but can also occur later in life.

In Type 1 Diabetes, your body is not producing insulin, a hormone needed to convert blood sugar into energy. Normally this hormone is produced by cells in your pancreas, but for some reason this is not happening as it should.

As the glucose in your blood can’t be converted into energy and absorbed by your cells, it builds up causing high blood sugar.

Left untreated, high blood sugar can cause serious long-term health problems.

The normal treatment for people with type 1 diabetes is daily injections of insulin which keeps the blood sugar level within normal ranges.

Finding out you have diabetes can be upsetting, but it should not prevent you from living a long and happy life.

If you think this condition will prevent you leading an active life, consider Sir Steve Redgrave, one of the World’s greatest Olympic athletes.

Sir Steve battled type 1 diabetes to win his record-breaking fifth Olympic Gold medal at the Sydney games in the coxless fours rowing event!