Mar

7

The Diabetic Child Needs Informed Caregivers

Filed Under Early Signs Of Diabetes, diabetes child sysptoms | Leave a Comment

Soft drinks on shelves in a Woolworths supermarket (:en:Australia). Taken by myself.Image via WikipediaOne of the hardest parts of being a parent is coping with the reality that your children could become ill. And, one illness that is showing up more often in children is diabetes.

When a parent learns that their child has diabetes, one of their first reactions is to want to know everything about the disease, including the symptoms, side effects and treatment options.

Taking care of the diabetic child also requires others to be educated as well. Teachers or day care personnel, grandparents, or anyone who provides care for the child must understand the nutritional requirements, medication needs and monitoring of blood sugar to insure the child’s safety.

Children are inclined to have type I diabetes, formerly called juvenile diabetes. However, children are increasingly being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes too. Type I diabetes occurs when the pancreas stops making insulin which is necessary to assist in breaking down sugars (glucose) in our body to help it work with efficiency. When this breakdown of sugars fails to occur, as with type I diabetes, the sugar remains in the blood.

Insulin is crucial in breaking down sugars in the body to utilize for energy. It must be taken to control diabetes. Thus type I diabetes is also referred to as insulin-dependent diabetes. Physical exercise and dieting are likewise crucial in assisting to contain this form of the disease. Providing care for the child with diabetes entails recognizing the signs and any ensuing responses that may come about.

The primary signs of diabetes in children are seizures, incessant hunger, fast heart rate, persistant headaches, tiredness, feeling lightheaded, trouble concentrating and blurry vision. They may also exibit cold and damp skin, and breath with an unusual odor.

You must then be able to determine when the child is in crisis mode, and what your response should be when the child is enduring either a hypoglycemic or hyperglycemic episode. Hyperglycemia happens when the blood sugar levels are too high. Climbing sugar levels are commonly a consequence of overeating, not getting the proper quantity of insulin, or not getting enough physical exercise. Once a child becomes hyperglycemic, treatment by medical professionals is called for.

A child suffering from high blood sugar may show signs of extreme thirst, weakness, frequent urination, blurry vision and little or no appetite.

In the case of hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar, the symptoms tend to vary from child to child. Most experience some combination of headaches, mood swings, extreme hunger, sweating, trembling, a tingling around the mouth and some degree of clumsiness.

At this point, the child should ingest something containing sugar like a soft drink, fruit juice or glucose pills. When the child is feeling more normal, they should then be given solid food. However, in some cases the hypoglycemia becomes severe, and the child is too weak to ingest liquids or solid food or is unconscious. At this point, an injection of the suggested dose of glucagon (a medication prescribed to quickly increase the amount of glucose in the blood), is typically recommended.

Proper diet plays a key role in maintaining the health of the diabetic child. Caregivers are responsible for ensuring that the child eats properly. It must be impressed upon them that eating too many sweets can make the child very ill. They must also understand that the child must ear regular, portion controlled meals and may need a snack occasionally to maintain proper blood sugar.

Adequate exercise is important to the diabetic child. They can take part in all regular, physical activities when they abide by two essential rules: They must refrain from playing just prior to eating and have a snack available so that they may supplant lost sugar. Exercise burns sugar and depletes energy, so the sweet snack will be needed to balance sugar levels.

Above all, the child must be educated about their illness. Children with diabetes must be taught how to monitor their blood sugar and what they must eat in order to control it and stay healthy.

While the diabetic child must be watched closely, the child and all of those involved with his or her care will soon find that their lives seem normal again. We all have to make adjustments as we go through life and learning to live with diabetes is just another one.

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Mar

2

Signs of Diabetes

Filed Under Diabetes adult symptoms, Early Signs Of Diabetes | Leave a Comment

Description: Fundus photo showing scatter laser surgery for diabetic retinopathy.Image via WikipediaDiabetes is a disease in which the body does not produce or properly use insulin. Insulin is a hormone that is needed to convert sugar, starches and other food into energy needed for daily life. There are 20.8 million children and adults in the United States, or 7% of the population, who have diabetes. While an estimated 14.6 million have been diagnosed with diabetes, unfortunately, 6.2 million people are unaware that they have the disease.

Diabetes can cause many complications. Acute complications (hypoglycemia, ketoacidosis or nonketotic hyperosmolar coma) may occur if the disease is not adequately controlled.

Serious long-term complications include cardiovascular disease (doubled risk), chronic renal failure (diabetic nephropathy is the main cause of dialysis in developed world adults), retinal damage, nerve damage (of several kinds), and microvascular damage, which may cause erectile dysfunction (impotence) and poor healing.

About 3 to 8 percent of pregnant women in the United States develop gestational diabetes. As with type 2 diabetes, gestational diabetes occurs more often in some ethnic groups and among women with a family history of diabetes.

Diabetes affects more than 20 million Americans. About 54 million Americans have prediabetes. Diabetes, without qualification, usually refers to diabetes mellitus, but there are several rarer conditions also named diabetes. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease. An autoimmune disease results when the body’s system for fighting infection turns against a part of the body. In diabetes, the immune system attacks and destroys the insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas. The most common form of diabetes is type 2 diabetes.

About 90 to 95 percent of people with diabetes have type 2. This form of diabetes is most often associated with older age, obesity, family history of diabetes, previous history of gestational diabetes, physical inactivity, and certain ethnicities. About 80 percent of people with type 2 diabetes are overweight. About 65 percent of deaths among those with diabetes are attributed to heart disease and stroke. Uncontrolled diabetes can complicate pregnancy, and birth defects are more common in babies born to women with diabetes.

In type 1 diabetes, symptoms tend to develop rapidly, over a couple of weeks, and are more severe. In type 2 diabetes, symptoms develop slowly and are usually milder. At least 65 percent of those with diabetes die from heart disease or stroke. Diabetes treatment depends on the type and severity of the diabetes. Type 1 diabetes is treated with insulin, exercise, and a diabetic diet. Type 2 diabetes is first treated with weight reduction, a diabetic diet, and exercise.

Regular exercise is especially important for people with diabetes. It helps with blood sugar control, weight loss, and high blood pressure. People with diabetes who exercise are less likely to experience a heart attack or stroke than diabetics who do not exercise regularly. Metformin this is often the first medicine that is advised for type 2 diabetes. Sulphonylureas for example, glibelclamide, gliclazide, glimerpirizide, glipizide, gliquidone, increase the amount of insulin produced by your pancreas.

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Mar

2

Signs Of Diabetes In Youths And Adults

Filed Under Diabetes adult symptoms, Early Signs Of Diabetes, diabetes child sysptoms | Leave a Comment

Step Out to Fight DiabetesImage by dziner via FlickrDiabetes is a serious disease because of its harmful effects and because half the people who have it don’t even know it. According to the American Diabetes Association, 16 million Americans have the disease. It can lead to blindness heart attack, stroke, kidney failure and amputations. In the extreme, it can even result in death. Every year nearly 170,000 Americans die from diabetes.

There are two reasons that diabetes is a problem for the human body, either the body has insensitivity to the insulin produced, or the body cannot produce enough. In a healthy body, glucose is derived from the food we eat and insulin transports it into cells where it provides energy for daily life. Diabetes prevents the glucose from entering the body’s cells and thus it simply stays in the blood unable to complete its function. High levels of glucose in the blood can cause damage to many of the body’s organs and needs immediate attention.

The good news is that diabetes, while not curable, can be treated. With early diagnosis, many of its complications can be avoided. That’s why it’s so important to recognize signs of diabetes. There are three types of diabetes- Type I usually affects children and young adults. Type 2 ordinarily affects adults over 45 and Gestational diabetes develops in women during pregnancy.

The most common type of diabetes is type 11. Of the total people who have diabetes, 95 percent have type 11. Even if you have no signs of diabetes, it is safe to consult with a doctor, if your children or any other blood relation has any sign of diabetes.

Vision changes, frequent urination, a constant feeling of thirst, fatigue or extreme weight loss are all signs of diabetes. While the disease can manifest in any person, Hispanics, African Americans and American Indians are more prone to develop it. There are also many risk factors for the condition, including having a child over 9 pounds, being over 45 years old, having a parent with the disease, or weighing 20% more than you should for your height and sex. Lack of exercise is another large risk factor for diabetes.

Juvenile diabetes, as its name implies, is mainly seen in children. In the worst cases, diabetic coma may be the initial sign of Type I diabetes. However, there are a number of other juvenile diabetes symptoms. In children, the symptom of frequent urination may appear in the form of bedwetting after the child is toilet trained. Extreme hunger and/or thirst, often for cold sweet drinks, may be present as well as sudden or dramatic weight loss, nausea, or vomiting. Other signs include unusual weakness or fatigue, eyesight changes such as blurred vision, restlessness and irritability. Unsurprisingly, children experiencing these symptoms may have difficulty in school.

Many people who have diabetes do not know that they have it. Diabetics not only suffer from the disease itself, but can also suffer from complications, including heart attack, stroke, kidney failure, and amputations. Therefore, it’s critical to recognize diabetes signs as soon as they appear. Vision changes, frequent urination, constant thirst, fatigue, and extreme weight loss are all [http://diabetesandsymptoms.org/ ]signs of diabetes. There are a variety of [http://diabetesandsymptoms.org/ ]juvenile diabetes symptoms, including weight loss, unusual thirst for sweet or cold drinks, hunger beyond normal, weakness, feeling of tiredness, vision changes, irritability, frequent urination or bed wetting, and stomach upset.

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