About diabetes

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease in which insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas are mistakenly destroyed by the body’s immune system. It impairs patient’s metabolism, affecting how they process and store glucose from blood. It occurs in children and adults. Its causes are not fully known, and there is currently no cure.

People with type 1 diabetes are dependent on injected or pumped insulin for the rest of their life to regulate blood glucose levels (glycemia). While current therapeutic approaches for type 1 diabetes save lives, less than 1 out of 5 patients achieves a controlled glycemia with exogenous insulin; in addition, cardiovascular complications often impact the overall life expectancy of diabetic patients and alter quality of life. Furthermore, insulin administration can be disruptive to daily activities as it needs to be injected 2-4 times a day and to monitor glucose levels requires glycemia monitoring by finger prick before each meal and bed. This translates in continuously planning several aspects of their daily life (e.g., fasting time, meal size, sport intensity), limiting their quality of life.

Currently, due to complications derived from diabetes, life expectancy for T1D patients is about 10-15 years shorter than the general population. Diabetes is the leading cause of preventable blindness, end-stage renal disease and non-traumatic amputation. It doubles the risk of cardiac death and stroke.

Today, it is estimated that more than 8.7 million people worldwide live with Type 1 diabetes, a number expected to grow to more than 17 million by 2040