Cause

Type 1 diabetes develops because the body's immune system destroys the beta cells which are in the islet tissue in the pancreas. These beta cells produce insulin. So people with type 1 diabetes cannot make their own insulin.

You can inherit a tendency to develop type 1 diabetes, but most people who have the disease have no family history of it. Diabetes experts believe that a genetic tendency and some environmental factors may increase the risk of developing type 1 diabetes. Possible environmental factors include enteroviral infections—especially Coxsackie B infections.

Despite concerns about vaccines (particularly those against whooping cough and Haemophilus influenza B, or Hib), studies have not found a relationship between being vaccinated and developing type 1 diabetes.¹