Former Hongkonger Michelle Hale was 14 when she was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, a chronic disease in which the body does not produce enough insulin.
Untreated, it causes high blood sugar levels, which can cause organ damage and increase the risks of seizures, heart disease and strokes. Treatment requires a daily regimen of insulin.
Type 1 diabetes is not fully understood, but it is an autoimmune disease that seems to start with a genetic predisposition. An environmental trigger, possibly a virus, causes the immune system to attack and destroy the body’s insulin-producing cells in the pancreas.
Since the pancreas no longer produces insulin, type 1 diabetics must take insulin daily through injections or a pump.
No one in Hale’s family had type 1 diabetes, though. Her diagnosis was all the more surprising given that she has an identical twin who is not diabetic.
Excessive thirst, frequent urination, loss of appetite, loss of weight, blurred vision and vomiting were the symptoms that landed her in the doctor’s office. Her blood sugar levels were dangerously high, and she was sent to the hospital for emergency treatment.
