With the recent upswing in people being diagnosed with diabetes, there is often confusion between Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes. One common misconception being, that both types of diabetes are brought on by unhealthy habits. Sarah, who suffers from Type 1 Diabetes, is here to set the record straight. This is her story.

"Type 1 Diabetes-Sarah's Story"

Sarah:

"My name is Sarah Gibble, I'm from Pennsylvania currently living in Manhattan, and I'm a Type 1 Diabetic. I started having symptoms about two weeks before I went into the hospital. I was very thirsty all the time, I started losing weight, and for a 9 years old kid, that's very strange to be losing weight all the time.I was constantly going to the bathroom, I always had to urinate. I went on a girl scout field trip, and I fainted in this treehouse area of the zoo. When I got to the emergency room, the doctor told me and my parents that I was in a diabetic coma, and my blood sugar was something near 800, and if you reach 1000 they usually don't make it. So, as a kid, and even now it's pretty scary to hear. It was a little bit hard to cope with at first, I didn't quite understand what was going on, why this had to happen to me. Later it got explained to me that my white blood cells were kind of attacking my pancreatic cells, which is what producing insulin, which is what breaks down food in the body, and as a result of that my pancreas no longer secretes insulin, which is why I have to take it in the form of shots.

Type 1 Diabetes has some similarities to Type 2, but they're kind of two different diseases. With Type 1 usually the person diagnosed with it is relatively healthy otherwise. And Type 2 is generally brought on because of some unhealthy habits. Another difference is, with Type 1 you can't have it, and then it magically goes away by eating healthy. You can't be borderline Type 1, you just are."