What is the difference between type 1 and type 2 diabetes?

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Type 1 and type 2 diabetes share a name and a blood sugar problem, and are otherwise different diseases. Type 1: the immune system attacks and destroys the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas - an autoimmune disease, usually appearing in childhood or young adulthood but possible at any age, with onset that can be fast and dramatic, and an absolute requirement for insulin from day one, since the body makes none. NIDDK notes type 1 is about 5 to 10 percent of diabetes. Type 2: the body's cells resist insulin while the pancreas still makes it - a metabolic condition driven by genetics, weight, activity, and age, developing gradually over years, representing roughly 90 to 95 percent of cases, and managed with lifestyle, oral medications like metformin, and sometimes insulin or newer injectables.

The differences that matter practically: type 1 cannot be prevented and never takes a break - insulin is survival, not optional. Type 2 can be delayed, prevented in the prediabetes stage, and sometimes put into remission. Diagnosis at first presentation: type 1 often arrives with rapid weight loss, extreme thirst, and sometimes dangerous ketoacidosis; type 2 is often found silently on routine labs.

One modern wrinkle: LADA - slowly progressing autoimmune diabetes in adults - masquerades as type 2 and is worth antibody testing when the fit is off: lean build, rapid progression to insulin, or other autoimmune disease.

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What is the difference between type 1 and type 2 diabetes?

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