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Would You Know if Your Child had Type 1 Diabetes?

There are different types of diabetes and they are confusing. One of them is not only life threatening and has no cure, but cases in children are on the increase by 4% a year, and no one knows why.

Type 1 diabetes is a chronic disease where the body's own immune system attacks and kills the cells that make insulin. Without insulin you die. Type 1 diabetics have to give themselves insulin several times a day, every day, for the rest of their lives. Causes of Type 1 are speculative. It's certainly nothing to do with obesity, and the children being diagnosed with it have done nothing to cause it themselves. Many are otherwise slim, fit and healthy kids. Some suggest it's hereditary, though many children with it have no one else in the family with diabetes. Some think it's caused by a virus. On the other hand there are families where siblings all have Type 1 diabetes. It is a complicated, confusing and mis-understood condition, which is why organisations like the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation work hard to raise funds to try and find a cure.

There's no history of any type of diabetes in my family, and despite being well-read , and a journalist, I'd never heard of Type 1. So when my daughter started displaying what I now know are the symptoms of it, I was confused and ignorant - and all the symptoms on their own had a plausible explanation.

So what were the symptoms, and could you spot them if they happened to your own child or a child in your care?

My daughter had just started secondary school so was nervous, excited and playing a lot more sport. She was thirsty all the time, so I ended up making sure we always had a bottle of water with us. Nothing odd about that. She had a bigger apetite too but nothing unusual - no more than the other kids who's stop off to get sweets and crisps after school. She'd had a growth spurt and was suddenly taller -so her slimness seemed in proportion. Just once she complained of feeling' odd' during a tantrum, but only after I'd asked her to tidy her room. Si I took no notice. She mentioned twice that she was seeing spots in front of her eyes, so I planned a visit to the optician, but the next day she always felt ok again. This went on for 2 to 3 months.

Suddenly, in one week, lots of things happened. Someone mentioned how terribly thin she was, and I realised yes she was - as if she'd lost lots of weight overnight. She got up in the night to drink water - lots of water - which she never normally did, and then staff at the holiday club said she was oddly tired and out of sorts. It was the night-time thirst that made me Google diabetes, and there for the first time I saw the symptoms of Type 1. It said this was urgent and to seek medical help immediately - which I did. An hour later we were in hospital. Our lives have changed forever since that day.

To help raise awareness and funds for research for a cure, I've written a short e-book available on Amazon's Kindle about our first experiences of discovering and coping with Type 1 diabetes . It's free to Kindle subscribers and only 77p to buyers. You don't need a Kindle to read it. You can download the Kindle app for free to your pC or iPhone.

Discovering and coping with Type 1 diabetes

Jane Bewick Green

NOTE: The health section of Parenting.co.uk is not to be used as a substitute for your GP; if your child is ill then seek the advice of a qualified doctor or other health professional without delay.

Your Views

Posted by: ved12 Posts: 3 From: Channel Islands		Type 1 Diabetes Diabetes have the very common symptoms and therefore, in initial stages some people are aware of diabetes. Type 1 diabetes can control with the help of insulin but in case of type 2 diabetes it is not possible. For that proper diet and exercise is very much important and many people get success to control diabetes with this two things. If your child is suffering with type 1 diabetes then it is always require for them to take a insulin on time which will always help them to control diabetes. It is very hard to handle the child with diabetes but nothing is impossible. what is insulin

	Posted: 01/Mar/12 at 11:44:12

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