Type 1 diabetes involves the inability of the pancreas to produce insulin, meaning that insulin is absent in a person's system which requires that they have supplemental insulin injections to control their blood sugar levels.
Type 2 diabetes is also known as insulin resistant diabetes. This means that a person does produce insulin, however their cells are resistant to their own insulin and therefore does not process blood sugar normally. It is part of what is now being called Metabolic Syndrome, which features a wide variety of symptoms and lifestyle choices, including obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and triglyceride levels, insulin resistance and a sedentary lifestyle. The best treatment is proper diet and regular exercise. There is an alarming increase in this type of diabetes in North America - our fast food culture and exercise-averse lifestyle has almost 100% to do with this. This kind of illness is 100% preventable, and for children especially, it is 100% reversible with lifestyle changes that reduce dietary fat and simple carbohydrate intake and increase physical activity.
Too much McDonald's, too much Nintendo.... Metabolic Syndrome is what the future holds.
Love, Scully