Diabetes Mellitus. What it is and how it affects children

The Diabetes Mellitus type 1 is a chronic disease, which in many cases appears in children or young adults. It is a pathology of autoimmune character, that is to say, the organism produces antibodies against the pancreas, as if it believes that it is something foreign to it, attacks it and destroys

The Diabetes Mellitus type 1 is a chronic disease, which in many cases appears in children or young adults. It is a pathology of autoimmune character, that is to say, the organism produces antibodies against the pancreas, as if it believes that it is something foreign to it, attacks it and destroys it.

Unlike Diabetes Mellitus type 2, the latter usually occurs in older people and usually overweight or obese.

Causes of diabetes Mellitus in children

This production of antibodies is not very well known why it is triggered. It seems that it is very related to some type of infection, probably viral, and from there, and together with a genetic predisposition of the individual, the pancreas begins to be destroyed.

In the early stages of this destruction, the blood sugar may be normal, but as the pancreatic destruction progresses, the insulin reserve decreases and in certain situations, for example, before a stress, or after some medications, the blood glucose level ( blood sugar) may be high.

Later, when there is hardly any insulin, the symptoms of diabetes are very clear: the child has polyuria (urinates a lot), polydipsia (drinks a lot), polyphagia (he is hungry and eats a lot), and has weight loss and fatigue (asthenia) . It is what is called the 'diabetic debut'. In this phase if you do not get treatment (insulin, serum therapy), dehydration and metabolic acidosis can be very serious and sometimes requires admission to an intensive care unit, where you will constantly have to perform patient analysis and change the fluid therapy and medication very quickly to improve metabolic control.

Once this critical phase of the 'diabetic debut' is over, the child usually stays in the hospital for a few days, around a week. During this time nurses, diabetes educators and pediatric endocrinologists will gradually teach the techniques that the child and parents will have to perform later in their home: performing capillary glycemias, insulin injections, adjustment of rations and insulin according to the exercise to do, what to do before a hypoglycemia (lowering sugar), what to do in the face of a hypoglycemia (rise in sugar), what to do in a situation of vomiting or other intercurrent disease.

Treatment of diabetes mellitus in children

Treatment, already for life, chronically, is insulin that is injected subcutaneously, but must also rely on exercise and an adequate intake of carbohydrates .

The diabetic child has to avoid the intake of refined sugars (pastries, chocolate, trinkets ...) but he can eat everything else, and he must have the healthiest diet possible.

Childhood diabetes is a very hard disease for the child and his family, but with good insulin and diet management, the patient can be happy and live 'with diabetes but not for diabetes'.