28.03.2024

What you need to know about child diabetes

The prevalence of diabetes in the world – 50 per 100,000 children, i.e. the disease affects one in two thousandth child. On average, the pediatrician needs to work about 10 years to encounter in their practice with the child with diabetes.

What is now in Russia, the lives of children with diabetes?

Now we live in the country 30 thousand children and adolescents with diabetes. In most children with type 1 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is, unfortunately, common in children with high body weight, but it’s still a rarity.

How to diagnose diabetes in children? Can a doctor miss a disease?

Of course, the doctor often meets very other diseases – acute respiratory infections, intestinal infections, chicken pox, measles, appendicitis, and not a children’s diabetes. This is the situation not only in Russia but throughout the world. Viewing on appointment of the child with abdominal pain, weakness, and vomiting, the doctors rather suspect appendicitis or an intestinal infection than accept these symptoms are signs of diabetes.

In 50-70% cases of diabetes detect when the child needs medical care, there are cases when young patients arrive already in a coma. This situation is connected not with the carelessness of doctors, the main problem is that people in General don’t know about those symptoms that are characteristic of type 1 diabetes.

Parents often do not pay attention to the fact that the child has a feeling of constant thirst, and he asks to drink, frequent urination, increased fatigue. Even noticing changes in child’s condition, they do not always report them to the doctor, often associating it with the stress load at school or sports clubs.

What should pay attention the parents?

The first signs of diabetes that should alert – polyuria (frequent urination) and excessive thirst. Their appearance was the reason to check the blood sugar level.

Identify diabetes at any age, even newborns, now discover they have diabetes, it becomes possible directly at the hospital. However, more often diabetes is diagnosed in between 3 to 14 years. On average, from the onset of first symptoms before the onset of the critical condition in which often child goes to the hospital, where he later diagnosed, it takes about 4 weeks.

How to change a child’s life after diagnosis?

After the detection of diabetes a child is prescribed insulin, as well as his and his family learn to live with diabetes. This disease is for life – there is no other disease, when you need every day to do a dozen pricks to check blood sugar and inject insulin.

Children, fortunately, accustomed to such a life. But science does not stand still. Real salvation for them, and for adults who have diabetes and must constantly monitor the level of sugar in the blood, was the appearance of the Freestyle Libre sensor, which simply attaches to the shoulder. To read off the readings using a special device that can store data or send them to your doctor. The emergence of such innovative devices greatly facilitates the life of a child.

Diabetes is a disease or lifestyle?

After diagnosis child bring in a register, which contains information about children with diabetes is necessary to obtain insulin. The child with diabetes need to provide not only insulin, but also a system of monitoring blood sugar, and also need to teach him the rules of life with diabetes.

All children in Russia are imported insulin free, manufacturers provide young patients with blood glucose meters. However, the number of test strips, issued monthly, is not enough – unfortunately, you have to buy yourself.

Depending on the level of glucose in the blood amount of insulin you need to increase or decrease. All this should be taught not only the patient and his family. Some children and parents master this science quickly, others take time.

Diabetes is certainly a disease and is quite heavy. To cure diabetes it is impossible, it will have to live forever, seriously changing lives. Life with diabetes is a big job for the whole family. Unfortunately, fathers often do not stand up and go, but in recent years, fortunately, this happens less and less.

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