Many people who are diagnosed with juvenile diabetes ask, "Why did I have to get diabetes?" It's easy to feel that getting diabetes is unfair, and to wonder why you had to be one of the people unlucky enough to get it.

But "Why me?" is a hard question to answer. Scientists are working hard to find out what causes juvenile diabetes, but they still don't have a clear answer.

One thing they do know is that your genes probably played a role. A certain combination of genes could make you more likely to develop diabetes than someone else, even someone in your own family.

Environment, or everything in the world around you, probably also plays a role. It could be that something in your life acted as a "trigger" to start up the disease. There are many possible triggers that scientists are studying, but, again, nothing definite has been found.

As you learn to live with diabetes, you will find you can live a full, healthy life. And many kids report that as they have learned to manage their disease, they have become better at managing a lot of other things in their life, too.

Kids and experts agree: It's worth it to put in the time and effort to learn to take care of yourself, and to live well with diabetes, both for your long-term health and to help you to achieve your life goals and dreams.