Who Has Type 1 Diabetes?

Today is World Diabetes Day. To mark it, the following chart provides insight on the prevalence of type 1 diabetes, a chronic autoimmune disease, in a selection of countries.

According to the NHS, there are two main types of diabetes: Diabetes type 1 is described as a “lifelong condition where the body's immune system attacks and destroys the cells that produce insulin”, whiule type 2 occurs when “the body does not produce enough insulin, or the body's cells do not react to insulin properly.” Unlike type 2 diabetes, there are no lifestyle changes that you can make to lower your risk of developing type 1.

According to data from the International Diabetes Foundation, more than 1.4 million people are currently living with type 1 diabetes in the United States.

Considering the comparatively smaller population sizes, the United Kingdom, Germany and Canada have particularly high numbers of cases.

Type 1 diabetes can occur at any age, but it usually occurs in childhood or adolescence. According to the International Diabetes Foundation, around 61 percent of people currently living with type 1 diabetes in the U.S. are between 20 and 59 years old, 28 percent are over 60 and around 12 percent are 20 or younger.