Type 1 Diabetes Double in 10 years - KOMU TV 8 - Alyssa Caverley

COLUMBIA - Type 1 diabetes affects 1 in 500 children in American and research say that number could double in the next 10 years.

Ethan Phillips has had type 1 diabetes since he was five, in other words, as long as he can remember. He is used to living with the disease and has accepted the challenges he will face for the rest of this life, but there are still some thing he doesn't like doing.

"I've gotten used to poking my finger" said Ethan "but shots still hurt"

His parents, Doug and Deanna Phillips, continue to help him everyday with a disease that will always be a part of their son's life. Deanna recalls additional hardships they encountered with their son because for a long time he didn't understand that he couldn't always do the same things as other children. She recalls one time during a first grade school party where Ethan wanted to have a cupcake, but could not because he already had his snack for the day and wasn't allowed to eat any more at the time.

"I don't think people realize, you know first of all, we have to worry about everything he eats, and how many times a day he checks his blood, and how many shots a day he has." said Deanne "I mean when you think of your body being a pin cushion, it really is and I think a lot of people think, don't realize that that's what's going on."

Scientists do not know what causes type 1 diabetes. They know that the bodies own immune system attacks the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas which causes the body to stop producing insulin. Doctor David Goldstein is the leading pediatric endocrinologist at the University of Missouri Children's Hospital. He says type 1 diabetes is a genetic disorder that usually presents during childhood and patients are fully insulin dependent. This is different than type 2 diabetes which occurs when the body becomes resistant to insulin, but the body doesn't completely stop producing insulin.

"The type 1 diabetes that causes destruction of the little cells in the pancreas called beta-cells that make insulin. It's inherited and it's great we have insulin now because before insulin, everybody died....type 1 is just different in that it usually presents during childhood." said Goldstein. "Children are generally not overweight, that's not part of the reason they get diabetes."

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