Washington, D.C. ? Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor was diagnosed at age 8 with Type 1 diabetes, an incurable condition but one that the White House concluded, after talking with her doctor, that the 54-year-old has under good control.

To survive, people with Type 1 diabetes must inject themselves with insulin numerous times a day, or use a pump that infuses it. Insulin is the hormone that regulates blood sugar, converting it to energy. With Type 1 diabetes — once called juvenile diabetes because it usually is diagnosed in children or young adults — the body mistakenly attacks and destroys the pancreas cells that produce insulin.

As part of its vetting process, White House officials talked with Sotomayor about her diabetes and consulted her doctors and others before concluding she’s in good health and can serve for many years.