Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease in which the body attacks its own pancreatic cells (known as islet or Beta cells) that produce and secrete the hormone insulin. Insulin’s primary function in the body is to maintain homeostasis of blood glucose levels without getting too low or high. Without insulin, cells would not be able to uptake glucose and use it to produce energy or store it in a different form for future uses. 
Type 1 diabetes has no cure and is called an “insulin dependent” disease because individuals will need a constant influx of insulin since their body’s own stores of insulin have been partially or completely destroyed. Type 1 diabetes is also known as a “juvenile disease” because diabetes mostly develops in children and young adults, according to the Diabetes Research Institute Foundation. Approximately three million people are diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, with only 5% of that total being people who were diagnosed as adults. By the time clinical symptoms are detected for this disease, approximately 60-80% of the body’s insulin producing cells are already destroyed. Consequently, many studies are focused on prevention and risk factors for type 1 diabetes.
There are several risk factors that are associated with type one diabetes. Family history is a factor that can increase the risk of the disease and anyone with a parent or sibling with type 1 diabetes has a slightly increased risk of developing the condition. Age is another risk factor, and there are two clear peaks when type 1 diabetes is diagnosed. The first is in children between 4 and 7 years old, and the second is in children between 10 and 14 years old. Genetics also plays a role in the occurrence of type 1 diabetes. The presence of certain genes linked to the HLA complex can indicate an increased risk for the disease in different ethnicities. Lastly, early diet in children would also be a factor into the disease, as obesity might be a predictor for type 1 diabetes. 
These results are important because they could prove beneficial when trying to create future clinical trials to study type 1 diabetes or other diseases with specific genetic components. In particular, these results suggest that the assessment for disease risk in African Americans significantly differs from European populations. As such, this has important implications for future risk screening programs and stresses the important of using high resolution genotyping to fairly represent different populations when designing screen programs. 	
When individuals are diagnosed with type 1 diabetes there are many symptoms that they might experience. Symptoms can include increased thirst, frequent urination, extreme hunger, unintended weight loss, irritability and other mood changes, fatigue and weakness, and blurred vision.
