In the United States of America, it costs $116 billion for direct medical costs related to Diabetes each year . Combined with the indirect costs, the total expenditure for Diabetes is around $170 billion annually.

After adjusting for population age and sex differences, average medical expenditures among people with diagnosed diabetes were 2.3 times higher than what expenditures would be in the absence of diabetes. (National Diabetes Fact Sheet 2011)

All Type I Diabetic patients will be treated with Insulin.

Due to the lack of Insulin production in Type I diabetes, Insulin had to be given supplementary to the body to mimic the effects it would usually have if released from the Pancreas. Due to its structure, Insulin cannot be administrated orally and therefore the most common method for treatment is via injections into the body muscle. Here it can then diffuse into the blood stream where is will then be transported to its target area in the body to then trigger glucose uptake from the blood into liver stores. For more detailed information on the structure of Insulin, please see the Insulin webpage.

The most common sites for injections are therefore upper arms, thigh, stomach and gluteal muscles.

Insulin administration must be continued constantly throughout the patient’s life. The regime in which to inject will be different per patient and discussed at regular hospital clinic visits throughout the year. There is also a difference in type of Insulin that can be used to treat the disease and this choice depends on the lifestyle of the patient, age and personal preference.

The most common approach to treatment of Type I diabetes, when first diagnosed, is to place the patient on a two injections per day system. The insulin type that is administrated is normally long lasting Insulin such as Glargine or Levermir that remains in the blood system for either 12 or 24 hours. The choice between which Insulin to use depends on the rate of the patients metabolism and any other risks factors that may be presented to the patient by their consultant. In some cases, doctors may decide to use different Insulin types such as Medium and Long Acting Insulin, dependant on a patient’s daily food intake. On this kind of Insulin regime, the patient is restricted in the food that they are allowed to eat. Due to the background effect that the long lasting insulin has in the body, very sugary food are not advised and diets full of carbohydrates are preferred. You are also advised to eat regularly.

A more common and new option to treatment is to use a Basal Bolus regime, which was introduced first to adult diabetics as a result of a research scheme known as DAFNE (Dose Adjustment For Normall Eating). This works on the principle of injecting for the food you eat at the time at which you eat it. In this case, a much more fast acting insulin is used such as Novorapid (Insulin Aspart) or Humalog (Insulin Lispro) that accounts for the glucose intake from the food that is eaten but is metabolised quickly within the body. Long lasting insulin is also administrated in a much lower dose to provide a background insulin level in the blood so that the patient isn’t required to eat as often throughout the day. The Daphne scheme used the knowledge that the carbohydrate levels (made up of single glucose molecules) were what caused raised blood glucose levels in patients, to establish a form of carbohydrate counting to determine the value of insulin to inject per meal.

In both types of treatment, fast acting insulin is also used if the blood glucose levels rise too high. Here the patient is taught to inject according to take enough extra insulin to bring down the blood glucose level quickly. This has to be a rapid response to avoid complications such as ketoacidosis and other malfunctions in the kidney.

In cases where the blood glucose level is too low, the patient will recognise this by feeling dizzy, faint and in some cases shaking of the hands and increased sweating also occur. The most rapid way to increase blood glucose levels to counteract this is to drink a sugary drink. Lucazade and fizzy drinks are popular choices but there are also tablet forms of sugar that may be preferred. Prescription options such as Hypostop gel are also used for those whose blood sugar levels are dangerously low.

A table of desired blood sugar levels for those with and without diabetes is given in the side toolbar. For more information about new treatment options that are currently during the clinical trials or have newly been made available on the NHS please follow the link in the side menu.

The most important aspect of treatment with regards to diabetes is that each patient’s regimes will be different. The volume of insulin injected daily or on a Basal Bolus regime will be altered accordingly throughout a patient’s life due to different reasons. Such circumstances may include pregnancy and menstrual cycles as well as general aging and frequency of exercise.

In addition to Insulin, there is also an element of diet controlled treatment for those suffering from Type I diabetes. Although which such regimes like Basal Bolus, and the possibility of injecting for food types with high sugar content, it is still advised to stay away from food and drink that will have a fast acting mechanism than the Insulin that is being injected. Sugar is to be avoided at all costs and since diabetes has become a more common and well known disease over the past 20 years, alternative foods are now being sold to help with living with the disease. Examples include Canderel and other Sweetener to substitute sugar in hot drinks. You can also buy diabetic specific chocolate and sweets for those people who are still on the traditional treatment of two injections per day.

Diabetic patients are also ill advised to drink a high amount of alcohol as this can cause several complications with the patient’s control of their disease and other lifestyle choices such as smoking are discouraged also.

For any other questions, please see our FAQ webpage where you can also give feedback on our website.