How to know if your child has diabetes
Type 2 diabetes in children - Symptoms and causes
Overview
Type 2 diabetes in children is a chronic disease that affects the way your child's body processes sugar (glucose) for fuel. Without treatment, the disorder causes sugar to build up in the bloodstream, which can lead to serious long-term consequences.
Type 2 diabetes occurs more commonly in adults. In fact, it used to be called adult-onset diabetes. But the increasing number of children with obesity has led to more cases of type 2 diabetes in younger people.
There's plenty you can do to help manage or prevent type 2 diabetes in your child. Encourage your child to eat healthy foods, get plenty of physical activity and maintain a healthy weight. If healthy eating and exercise aren't enough to control type 2 diabetes, oral medication or insulin treatment may be needed.
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- Book: The Essential Diabetes Book
Symptoms
Type 2 diabetes in children may develop so gradually that there are no noticeable symptoms. Sometimes, the disorder is diagnosed during a routine check-up.
Some children might experience these signs and symptoms as a result of too much sugar in their bloodstreams:
- Increased thirst
- Frequent urination
- Increased hunger
- Fatigue
- Blurry vision
- Darkened areas of skin, most often around the neck or in the armpits and groin
- Unintended weight loss, although this is less common in children with type 2 diabetes than in children with type 1 diabetes
- Frequent infections
When to see a doctor
See your child's health care provider if you notice any of the signs or symptoms of type 2 diabetes. Undiagnosed, the disease can cause serious damage.
Diabetes screening is recommended for children who have started puberty or are at least 10 years old, who are overweight or obese, and who have at least one other risk factor for type 2 diabetes.
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Causes
The exact cause of type 2 diabetes is unknown.
But family history and genetics appear to play an important role. What is clear is that children with type 2 diabetes can't process sugar (glucose) properly.
Most of the sugar in the body comes from food. When food is digested, sugar enters the bloodstream. Insulin allows sugar to enter the cells — and lowers the amount of sugar in the blood.
Insulin is produced by a gland located behind the stomach called the pancreas. The pancreas sends insulin to the blood when food is eaten. When the blood sugar level starts to drop, the pancreas slows down the secretion of insulin into the blood.
When your child has type 2 diabetes, this process doesn't work as well. As a result, instead of fueling cells, sugar builds up in your child's bloodstream. This can happen because:
- The pancreas may not make enough insulin
- The cells become resistant to insulin and don't allow as much sugar in
Risk factors
Researchers don't fully understand why some children develop type 2 diabetes and others don't, even if they have similar risk factors.
However, it's clear that certain factors increase the risk, including:
- Weight. Being overweight is a strong risk factor for type 2 diabetes in children. The more fatty tissue children have — especially inside and between the muscle and skin around the abdomen — the more resistant their bodies' cells become to insulin.
- Inactivity. The less active children are, the greater their risk of type 2 diabetes.
- Diet. Eating red meat and processed meat and drinking sugar-sweetened beverages is associated with a higher risk of type 2 diabetes.
- Family history. Children's risk of type 2 diabetes increases if they have a parent or sibling with the disease.
- Race or ethnicity. Although it's unclear why, certain people — including Black, Hispanic, American Indian and Asian American people — are more likely to develop type 2 diabetes.
- Age and sex.
Many children develop type 2 diabetes in their early teens, but it may occur at any age. Adolescent girls are more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than are adolescent boys. - Maternal gestational diabetes. Children born to women who had gestational diabetes during pregnancy have a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
- Low birth weight or preterm birth. Having a low birth weight is associated with a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Babies born prematurely — before 39 to 42 weeks' gestation —have a greater risk of type 2 diabetes.
Type 2 diabetes in children is often associated with metabolic syndrome and polycystic ovarian syndrome.
Metabolic syndrome
When certain conditions occur with obesity, they are associated with insulin resistance and can increase the risk of diabetes ⸺ and heart disease and stroke. A combination of the following conditions is often called metabolic syndrome:
- High blood pressure
- Low levels of high-density lipoproteins (HDL), the "good" cholesterol
- High triglycerides
- High blood sugar levels
- Large waist size
Polycystic ovary syndrome
Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) affects young females after puberty.
PCOS is caused by an imbalance of hormones, resulting in signs such as weight gain, irregular menstrual periods, and excess face and body hair. People with PCOS often have problems with metabolism that can result in insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes.
Complications
Type 2 diabetes can affect nearly every organ in your child's body, including the blood vessels, nerves, eyes and kidneys. The long-term complications of type 2 diabetes develop gradually over many years. Eventually, diabetes complications may be severe or even life-threatening.
Complications of type 2 diabetes are related to high blood sugar and include:
- High cholesterol
- Heart and blood vessel disease
- Stroke
- Nerve damage
- Kidney disease
- Eye disease, including blindness
Keeping your child's blood sugar level close to the standard range most of the time can dramatically reduce the risk of these complications.
You can help your child prevent diabetes complications by:
- Working with your child to maintain good blood sugar control as much as possible
- Teaching your child the importance of healthy eating and participating in regular physical activity
- Scheduling regular visits with your child's diabetes treatment team
Prevention
Healthy-lifestyle choices can help prevent type 2 diabetes in children. Encourage your child to:
- Eat healthy foods. Offer your child foods low in fat and calories. Focus on fruits, vegetables and whole grains. Strive for variety to prevent boredom.
- Get more physical activity. Encourage your child to become active. Sign up your child for a sports team or dance lessons.
Better yet, make it a family affair. The lifestyle choices that can help prevent type 2 diabetes in children can do the same for adults.
By Mayo Clinic Staff
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How To Tell if Your Child Has Type 1 Diabetes
Written by WebMD Editorial Contributors
Medically Reviewed by Amita Shroff, MD on December 08, 2020
Every parent knows babies and small children sleep and drink a lot.
But if your child is suddenly much drowsier or thirstier than usual, it could be a symptom of type 1 diabetes.
It used to be called juvenile diabetes because most of the people who got it were young children. Your child could get type 1 diabetes as an infant, or later, as a toddler or a teen. Most often, it appears after age 5. But some people don’t get it until their late 30s.
Know the symptoms of type 1 diabetes so you can help keep your child healthy.
Understanding Type 1 Diabetes
It’s not the same as “classic” or type 2 diabetes, which is often linked to obesity and seen in adults (but it can occur in children too, usually after age 10).
If your child has type 1 diabetes, it means their pancreas -- an organ in the upper-right side of the belly -- makes little or no insulin. The condition is an autoimmune disorder, which means it happens when the body’s defense system attacks and destroys cells that make insulin.
What to Watch For
Symptoms of type 1 diabetes in infants and children can start very suddenly.
Keep an eye out for these signs in your baby or child:
- Sudden strange behavior (acting “drunk”)
- Breath that smells fruity, sweet, or like wine
- Extreme drowsiness or lack of energy
- Ongoing, intense thirst
- Grunting while breathing
- Heavy breathing
- Huge appetite
- Sudden vision changes
- Sudden weight loss
- Peeing more often (infants and toddlers may have more wet diapers than usual)
- Difficulty breathing
When to Call a Doctor
Type 1 diabetes may cause sudden, extreme swings in blood sugar that can be dangerous. If you notice any of the symptoms of diabetes in your child, it’s important to get them a physical exam as soon as possible, so their doctor can begin treatment right away.
The doctor will do a simple urine test to check for glucose (sugar) in the urine and a finger stick to measure preliminary blood glucose level. A more involved test, called an oral glucose tolerance test, can tell for certain if it’s type 1 diabetes.
Your child will need to follow a special diet before this procedure.
If your child has already been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, call your doctor if you notice any of these signs of a low blood sugar emergency:
- Blurry or double vision
- Cold, clammy skin
- Confusion
- Dizziness
- Drowsiness or tiredness
- Extreme or sudden hunger
- Headache
- Pale, moist skin
- Rapid pulse
- Shallow breathing
- Sweating
- Weakness
Low blood sugar can be life-threatening to children with type 1 diabetes. Always call 911 or get emergency medical help if your child ever passes out or has seizures.
Childhood diabetes | Prevention | GBUZ "City Polyclinic No. 6 of Novorossiysk" MH KK
Diabetes in children: causes, symptoms and signs, diagnosis, treatment.
) in the blood. Diabetes mellitus ranks first among all endocrine diseases in children. Diabetes mellitus in children is relatively acute and without appropriate treatment, as a rule, acquires a severe, progressive course.
This development of diabetes in children is due to the intensive growth of the child's body and, accordingly, increased metabolism
Diagnosis of diabetes in children is based on identifying the symptoms of the disease and determining the concentration of glucose and insulin in the blood. Treatment of diabetes mellitus in children includes diet, dosed exercise, treatment with insulin preparations.
Forms of diabetes in children. There are two main types of diabetes mellitus:
- Insulin-dependent diabetes (type 1 diabetes).
- Non-insulin dependent diabetes (type 2 diabetes).
While type 2 diabetes mellitus predominates among adults, type 1 diabetes mellitus (insulin-dependent) predominates among children.
Type 1 diabetes mellitus is characterized by very low levels of insulin in the blood, as a result of which the diabetic child is dependent on insulin treatment.
Features of the development of diabetes in children
A child's pancreas (an organ that produces the hormone insulin) is very small.
By the age of 10, the mass of the child's pancreas doubles, reaching a size of 12 cm and a weight of just over 50 g. The production of insulin by the pancreas is one of its most important functions, which is finally formed by the fifth year of a child's life. It is from this age and up to about 11 years that children are especially susceptible to diabetes. All metabolic processes in a child's body proceed much faster than in an adult. Carbohydrate metabolism (assimilation of sugars) is no exception. Accordingly, a child needs to consume 10 g of carbohydrates per 1 kg of weight per day. Therefore, all children are very fond of sweets - this is a natural need of their body. The metabolism of carbohydrates is also affected by the nervous system of the child, which is not yet fully formed, therefore it can malfunction and also affect blood sugar levels. Contrary to popular belief, even the consumption of significant amounts of sweets in childhood does not lead to the development of diabetes.
In general, the risk of developing diabetes is higher in premature, underdeveloped children, or adolescents during puberty. Also, the risk of developing diabetes is higher in children subject to significant physical exertion (for example, in pupils of sports schools).
The main cause of diabetes in children is a viral infection that destroys insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. Among childhood infections, many can cause the development of diabetes (mumps, rubella, measles, etc.). In this regard, one of the most important measures to prevent the development of diabetes in children is the timely vaccination of the child.
The course of diabetes mellitus in children also depends on the age of the child at which the disease began. The younger the child with diabetes, the more severe it is and the greater the risk of various complications. As a rule, once having arisen, diabetes in a child never goes away. A child with diabetes will need supportive care throughout his life.
Risk factors for diabetes in children
There are a number of risk factors that contribute to the development of diabetes in children. The presence of one or more risk factors greatly increases a child's chances of developing diabetes. Risk factors for diabetes in children:
- children born to diabetic mothers
- both parents of the child have diabetes mellitus
- frequent acute viral diseases
- birth weight exceeded 4.5 kg
- other metabolic disorders (hypothyroidism, obesity)
- immunosuppression
Symptoms of diabetes in children are almost the same as in adults:
- thirst
- weight loss
- excessive urine output (more than 2-3 liters per day)
- severe infections
- fatigue, inability to concentrate
Parents do not always notice these symptoms, which makes it difficult to detect diabetes in children.
Despite the difficulty in identifying the symptoms of diabetes in a child, there are characteristic signs of diabetes in children that make it easier to identify the disease. So, for example, an important symptom of diabetes is bedwetting. Children with diabetes produce 2-4 times more urine than healthy children. Also, in children with diabetes, skin lesions (furunculosis), itching of the skin, etc. often occur. In infants, diabetes mellitus is accompanied by indigestion (diarrhea, constipation, vomiting), anxiety. A diabetic child suckles a lot and greedily at the breast or drinks water. From sweet urine, linen and diapers become hard, crispy. These symptoms are often observed in moderate or severe diabetes mellitus. In mild diabetes mellitus, sick children may have little to no complaints or signs of illness, and the diagnosis is based on blood and urine sugar levels.
Treatment of diabetes in children.
Treatment of diabetes in a child includes: exercise, diet, medication.
Exercise for children with diabetes
Exercise increases the sensitivity of body tissues to insulin and lowers blood sugar levels. In this regard, dosed physical activity is an important part of the treatment of children with diabetes. It should be emphasized that only dosed physical activity is useful in diabetes, while uncontrolled physical activity in patients with diabetes mellitus contributes to the development of hypoglycemic conditions.
Proper exercise management in diabetic children necessarily includes the use of additional carbohydrates before, during and after exercise in accordance with the recommendations given by your doctor, as well as periodic monitoring of blood glucose levels.
It is important to measure blood glucose before, during and after exercise in order to correctly dose insulin with a short or intermediate duration of action.
Nutrition of a sick child plays an important role in the treatment of diabetes mellitus. The nutrition of a child with diabetes should meet all the requirements that are currently imposed on the nutrition of a healthy child: the diet should be as balanced as possible in all the most important ingredients (proteins, fats, carbohydrates and vitamins).
Compliance with this condition allows children with diabetes to grow and develop normally. At the same time, a special diet eliminates the carbohydrate load and thus facilitates the course and treatment of diabetes.
In diabetes mellitus, they limit the use of such foods and dishes as bakery products made from wheat flour, potatoes, cereals (semolina, rice). Porridge is given to the child no more than once a day, using coarse grinding cereals (buckwheat, oatmeal, corn) for their preparation.
Rice, semolina and pasta should be used in limited quantities. The consumption of bread should not exceed 100g per day. Vegetables (everything except potatoes) can be offered to the child without restrictions. Moreover, dishes from various vegetables should make up a significant part of the daily diet of children.
Fruits and berries – unsweetened varieties of apples, black currants, cherries, etc. – are also widely included in the diet for diabetes. Occasionally, you can give your child citrus fruits (oranges, tangerines), strawberries, wild strawberries, raspberries.
A child can eat fruits raw and in the form of compotes prepared with sugar substitutes.
Fatty, spicy and salty sauces, sweet sauces are excluded from the menu. If the child does not have liver diseases associated with diabetes, it is allowed to add a small amount of onion to food as a seasoning.
It is necessary to feed a child with diabetes 6 times a day and more often. The greatest satisfaction for the child, as a rule, brings his usual food. In view of this, when compiling a diet, the features of the family nutrition stereotype should be taken into account: the hours and volume of each meal, the child's eating habits. The composition of the child's diet should be agreed with the doctor observing the child.
Drug treatment of diabetes in children.
Almost all children with diabetes receive insulin. Thanks to the introduction of long-acting insulin preparations into medical practice, as a rule, one injection of insulin per day is sufficient.
The choice of insulin preparation, its dosage and administration schedule are also determined by the attending physician. Tablets for diabetes (Maninil, Glipizide, etc.) are quite effective in treating diabetes in adults, but very rarely give good results in children. They are used in mild forms of the disease or prescribed as an adjuvant to reduce the number of injections or the dose of insulin.
Children and adolescents who are regularly treated, adhere to the diet exactly, develop well physically and mentally.
Properly selected and organized therapy with insulin preparations and constant monitoring of the child's condition greatly alleviate the course of the disease and allow children with diabetes to lead a full life.
Material taken from the website: Cherepovets City Maternity Hospital
"RG" tips: How to recognize diabetes in a child "Children get diabetes too." The main task is to teach parents what to look for, so that if the child is sick, it can be established as early as possible.
Diagnosing diabetes is not difficult at all - you just need to pass the appropriate blood tests on time. The disease does not make itself felt immediately, the symptoms increase gradually. And in order to prevent the development of hyperglycemia, which can end in tragedy, parents are simply obliged to carefully monitor the child. And in which case - immediately take him to the doctor and examine.
However, a recent FOM survey showed that half of the parents are not aware of the early symptoms of the disease at all. And one in four named erroneous symptoms, such as cravings for sweets.
It is clear that it is better not to lead to critical situations. And to examine the child without waiting for complications, at the first signs of trouble (see Fig.)
Competently
Thirst is not good
Valentina Peterkova, chief freelance pediatric specialist endocrinologist of the Ministry of Health of Russia:
- Diabetes mellitus 1- type today is one of the most common endocrine diseases in children and adolescents.
It arises as a result of a complex interaction of genetic factors, viral and immunological disorders, and heredity does not play a big role here. Unfortunately, it is impossible to prevent the onset of diabetes with the help of any preventive measures, but it is possible to make a diagnosis in time and choose the appropriate therapy for a particular patient. This will provide a good level of compensation, the child will be able to live a full life if he follows the doctor's orders. The main thing we urge parents to do is to pay attention to the symptoms in time. Should alert excessive thirst, weight loss with increased appetite, frequent urination, especially at night. If this happens to your child - no need to wait, take him to the doctor and be examined.
Specialist's advice
Protecting yourself from the threat of getting sick
1. Tempering, regular exercise, friendly, warm family environment - all this will help the child to resist provoking factors that trigger the disease - stress and infections.
2. If you call an ambulance for suspected symptoms of hyperglycemia or a hyperglycemic coma in a child, tell the doctor about your observations. Don't refuse hospitalization. The described symptoms will help doctors more accurately and quickly choose a treatment algorithm.
3. Spare your child's pancreas: Limit your intake of sweets, including sugar-added drinks, to reasonable amounts.
4. Most importantly, you must not allow the disease to be detected at a late stage. At the first symptoms, contact a pediatric endocrinologist.
5. If your child has been diagnosed with diabetes, his or her kindergarten teacher, school teacher should know about it so that they can help.
Important
Not many people know how dangerous diabetes is
With prolonged poor control, it provokes:
cardiovascular disease, heart attack;
arterial hypertension, stroke;
poor wound healing, trophic ulcers;
vision problems up to total blindness;
kidney problems up to kidney failure;
"diabetic foot", threat of gangrene and amputation of limbs;
coma.
