Type 1 diabetes is a disease that causes levels of sugar (glucose) in the blood to become too high. This is because the body is unable to produce the hormone insulin, which helps your body use sugar for energy.1
Type 1 diabetes develops when the immune system attacks cells in the pancreas that produce insulin. As a result, the pancreas is unable to produce its own insulin to keep blood sugar levels under control. This is known as an autoimmune disease, where the immune system mistakes healthy cells as harmful and attacks them.2
The discovery of insulin more than 100 years ago transformed diabetes from a death sentence into a disease people can manage.3
Insulin therapy helps people living with type 1 diabetes to manage their blood sugar levels by replacing the insulin that the body doesn't produce.4
Insulin treatment has evolved significantly, with each advancement seeking to be closer to a natural insulin response.5 Most importantly, these advancements also seek to help people with type 1 diabetes overcome some of the daily burden that comes with living with the disease.6
Maintaining target blood sugar levels can prevent diabetes-related complications linked to high blood sugar (hyperglycaemia), such as heart disease, sight problems and nerve damage.13 It can also protect people living with type 1 diabetes from hypoglycaemia; when blood sugar levels drop too low causing symptoms such as feeling shaky or confused, tiredness or blurred vision.14
One of our big ambitions is to develop insulins that may one day eliminate hypoglycaemic events. We share this ambition with many partners in the diabetes research community and work closely with them towards this common goal.
Today, we are driving change in diabetes by bringing the voices and views of people living with diabetes into our scientific research and engineering to develop innovative treatments and delivery systems. We are also committed to driving impactful change within access, education and care to ensure we reach those in need.
Our ultimate goal is to find a cure. To do this, we are conducting research in regenerative medicine, such as cell therapy, which may one day achieve this aim.
NHS UK. What is type 1 diabetes?; 31 October 2024. Available from: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/type-1-diabetes/about-type-1-diabetes/what-is-type-1-diabetes/ [Accessed February 2025]
Diabetes.co.uk. What is an autoimmune disease?; 29 October 2023. Available from: https://www.diabetes.co.uk/autoimmune-diseases.html [Accessed February 2025]
Diabetes UK. 100 years of insulin. Available from: https://www.diabetes.org.uk/our-research/about-our-research/our-impact/discovery-of-insulin [Accessed February 2025]
Diabetes UK. What is insulin? Available from: https://www.diabetes.org.uk/about-diabetes/looking-after-diabetes/treatments/insulin/what-is-insulin [Accessed February 2025]
Hirsch IB et al. The evolution of insulin and how it informs therapy and treatment choices. Endocr Rev. 2020;41(5):733-755; doi: 10.1210/endrev/bnaa015.
NHS UK. Living with type 1 diabetes; 31 October 2024. Available from: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/type-1-diabetes/living-with/ [Accessed February 2025]
Diabetes UK. Type 1 diabetes; 8 June 2023. Available from: https://www.diabetes.org.uk/diabetes-the-basics/types-of-diabetes/type-1 [Accessed February 2025]
Diabetes UK. Differences between type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Available from: https://www.diabetes.org.uk/diabetes-the-basics/differences-between-type-1-and-type-2-diabetes [Accessed February 2025]
Diabetes UK. What causes type 1 diabetes?; 8 June 2023. Available from: https://www.diabetes.org.uk/diabetes-the-basics/types-of-diabetes/type-1/causes [Accessed February 2025]
Diabetes UK. How many people in the UK have diabetes? Available from: https://www.diabetes.org.uk/about-us/about-the-charity/our-strategy/statistics [Accessed February 2025]
Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH). Diabetes; March 2020. Available from: https://stateofchildhealth.rcpch.ac.uk/evidence/long-term-conditions/diabetes [Accessed February 2025]
NICE. Diabetes - type 1: how common is it?; December 2024. Available from: https://cks.nice.org.uk/topics/diabetes-type-1/background-information/incidence-prevalence/ [Accessed February 2025]
NHS UK. Complications of type 1 diabetes; 31 October 2024. Available from: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/type-1-diabetes/complications/ [Accessed February 2025]
Diabetes UK. What is a hypo (hypoglycaemia)?; 6 November 2024. Available from: https://www.diabetes.org.uk/about-diabetes/complications/hypos [Accessed February 2025]