|  | Conditions Treatments | Diabetes

Diabetes in Infants & Young Children

According to help4diabetics.com, diabetes ranks fifth on the list of deadliest diseases in the U.S. Currently, there is no cure and the cause of the disease in unknown. There are two forms of diabetes, type 1 and type 2. When you have diabetes, your body can't properly use or produce insulin. Insulin is a hormone which converts foods with starches and sugar into energy. When the onset of diabetes occurs in adulthood, it is type 2. When infants and young children are diagnosed with the disease it's type 1, or juvenile onset diabetes.

  1. Symptoms

    • Type 1 diabetes has several warning signs. Children can have increased appetite, sudden weight loss, frequent urination, sudden vision changes, extreme thirst and stupor. In addition, children can suffer from sugar in the urine, fruity or wine-like breath odor, unconsciousness or labored breathing. The symptoms can appear over three days or over weeks. Parents may notice signs after children have an illness like a cold or flu.

    Occurs

    • Type 1 diabetes occurs when a child's immune system attacks pancreatic cells. These beta cells produce insulin. The insulin moves glucose throughout the body. However, when the beta cells are attacked then destroyed, glucose stays in the blood instead of being distributed throughout the body. Thus, the organ systems are damaged. To stay alive, children must take insulin daily. This can be delivered via insulin pump or injections.

    Difficulties

    • How infants and toddlers will react to insulin can be difficult to assess since their daily activity and eating patterns constantly change. Also, glucose levels can be hard to maintain when children are sick. In fact, glucose levels can rise to dangerous levels when children are sick, so their levels should be checked more often than usual. Parents and teenagers should be aware of hypoglycemic reaction risks. If their blood sugars are too low while they are driving, they should immediately pull over.

    Dangers

    • Hypoglycemia is abnormally low blood sugar levels. Symptoms of hypoglycemia are a craving for sweets, dizziness, blurred vision, mental confusion and crying spells. Hyperglycemia is abnormally high blood sugar levels. This can occur when children eat too many carbohydrates, forget to take insulin or have infection. Symptoms are headache, thirst, have trouble concentrating and blood glucose level higher than 180 mg/dl.

    Treatment

    • Parents should keep their children's blood sugar levels as close to normal as possible. Children should take daily shots of insulin and check their blood sugar multiple times. In addition, parents need to make sure their children eat a healthy diet, which should include carbohydrates throughout the day, and exercise regularly.

Diabetes - Related Articles