If type 1 was diet controlled, maybe. It's not. There's a reason they call it insulin-dependant. In type 1 diabetes, the body does not produce insulin. No amount of diet is going to be able to fix that. In type 2 diabetes, the body produces insulin, it just is missing the transmitter that makes it effective. Type 2 is often diet controlled. Type 1 can only be controlled by insulin, so I doubt it just showed up on some exam whilst he had no symptoms. He should have had polyuria, polydipsia, or something like that.

type 1 diabetes can be barely controlled by diet, but it would have to be a very strict, no carb diet. and it doesn't work for a long period of time. I mean, think about it, insulin has only been prevalent for consumers for the last couple decades but diabetes has been known about for many decades. I've been a type 1 diabetic for ten years now, and i cant even imagine what it would be like without insulin... i'd be dead! ha.

... wowww... it isn't incredibly rare. you do realize that it's possible to get type 1 diabetes in your 20s. but im not sure if it's suddenly. im sure you had some sort of symptoms but thought nothing of it. doesn't mean it's fake people.

Op here, Definatly not a fake, as other posters have said, Type 1 is not exclusive to juveniles. I am 24. I had the symptoms for a few weeks (thirst, tiredness, etc.) but was only diagnosed when i went for my comm pilots medical and they detected it there. And instead of college i chose flight training. So as much as i would love to move to the states, finding a job and someone to sponsor me would be difficult.

You need to be retrained. I was diagnosed as being a type 1 diabetic when I was 29. I knew something was wrong with me and suspected it was diabetes (from reading the web), so I went to a walk-in clinic and asked for tests. The doctor there was just like you and insisted I couldn't be a type 1 diabetic and still be walking, but I insisted on geting a blood test anyway. I waited more than a week for him to give me the results, and when he did, the results said I was diabetic. But he still didn't believe it! He thought something must have been wrong with the test, and sent me for more tests. At that point, I thought "screw him" and just went to the emergency ward of a hospital. The triage nurse gave me a simple finger prick and immediately told me that my blood sugar was off the charts (more than five times the normal level) and that it looked liked diabetes. I stayed in hospital overnight and was officially diagnosed the next day. I now trust nurses more than doctors.

Also, it's not "extremely rare". A friend of mine has a boyfriend who was also diagnosed as Type 1 in his late 20s (he was initially misdiagnosed as Type 2, and ended up falling into a ketoacidosis coma because of it), and I once chatted to a random stranger who told me he was diagnosed at age 39.

I don't need to be retrained. I understand people CAN get it later on in life, and just because a few of you KNOW people who got it later on does not mean it's common. In the original post, he quoted that it just showed up on his yearly exam. I don't diagnose people, I read all the aftermath. I get to read everything that happens to a person during their stay at a facility I work for. The chances of it just popping up with no symptoms are pretty impossible (for type 1). Like I said in a previous post, almost EVERY case I've had on new-onset type 1 diabetes was because they came in with DKA (Diabetic KetoAcidosis). That's when I was working at a pediatric facility. We saw both Type 1 and Type 2 in kids. Now I work at an adult facility and have yet to see someone come in with new-onset juvenile diabetes. Type 1 has far too many symptoms to just "pop up" on some bloodwork. Also, as stated below somewhere, Dorland's Medical Dictionary states the PEAK AGE for new-onset is 12. Therefore, it is common to get it around that age. Every average has outliers. I'm fairly certain that MY job allows me to see far more cases than a couple of your personal experiences have. My job is to read and code charts every day, but please, let me know where your medical knowledge comes from.

im sorry but your an idiot. you should probably get more education on this subject. type 1 is an auto immune disease so you can get it anytime in life though it is more common in children.

i take it as an insult that you're considering all physicians the same but hey, it's your opinion

Um...not to mention the fact that he could have a seizure if his numbers are too low (which, if no one's around to help, could potentially lead to coma/death), and both high and low blood sugar can throw off your reflexes/judgment. My brother has type 1 diabetes, and when he's low, he becomes aggressive and belligerent--if you try to help, he can become violent. Until he starts seizing. I can see why it could be an issue with flying, unless there's at least one other person there.

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This is not necessarily true, as type 1 has a cause which is not fully understood though there has been a strong correlation which has a large environmental factor due to the variable expression across many of the genes which influence it. Something may set it off though it is a chronic disease so "sudden" only means on last blood test. However, there is a significant chance of adults developing it as recent studies have shown and in fact it is now formerly known as juvenile onset diabetes because of the discovery of it being more common.

Actually, it's STILL known as Juveline onset diabetes. My reference material is updated every 6 months, and according to the newest update (october) it is still Type 1/Juvenile type. Dorland's Medical dictionary places the peak age of onset at 12. Obviously, it can still develop at other ages, but it is most common in younger years. These facts are from actual medical reference materials used by medical professionals across the US.