Tips for caring for a child with Type 1 diabetes

From healthier.stanfordchildrens.org

If your child has been diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, or you think he or she may be at risk, you probably have a lot of questions. Sara Moassesfar, MD, a paediatric endocrinologist, shares some insight on the condition and some tips for caregivers.

Diabetes is a common long-term condition that affects how the body uses glucose, a type of sugar in the blood. So, it is important to know the signs and symptoms of high blood sugar.

Dr. Moassesfar explains, “The most common symptom of high blood sugar is being very thirsty and urinating often. Other signs could be nausea, vomiting, belly pain or weight loss. Sometimes children will complain of blurry vision from the high sugars. If these symptoms present in a child, parents should definitely see their paediatrician and have their child’s blood sugar checked.”

The paediatrician will usually run lab tests and check the child’s urine for sugar. If a child is found to have diabetes, the child will be admitted to the hospital so the family can learn how to manage the condition in a supportive environment.

“In the initial stages, we teach families how to check blood sugars, how to count carbohydrates, calculate insulin dosing, and administer insulin. We teach them what to do if the sugar goes too high or if sugars go too low. We like to have the family in the hospital initially, so they won’t have to do any of this alone and we can guide them the whole time,” according to Dr. Moassesfar.

While there is no cure for Type 1 diabetes, there are many things you can do to manage the condition and keep your child healthy. “Parents should make sure that the sugars are checked regularly, the carbs in snacks and meals are counted properly, and the insulin dose is calculated properly,” she recommends.

Managing diabetes can be stressful for the entire family, so Dr. Moassesfar emphasizes the importance of emotional support throughout this journey.
“There is a high percentage of depression in patients with diabetes because it can be a very isolating condition. Children might find it embarrassing or they don’t want to be seen as different from their peers,” she said.

 “It is helpful for parents to be in tune to what their child’s emotional and mental health needs are and help them get the extra resources that they need. That’s a big way that families can help.” Children with diabetes can still enjoy happy, healthy lives when their condition is well-controlled. “I just want to remind everyone that children with diabetes can do everything that other children can do. They can be just as healthy, just as strong. There should not be limitations as long as they’re watching their sugars and giving insulin.”

https://healthier.stanfordchildrens.org/en/national-diabetes-month-2019/

Early signs of adult type 2 visible in children as young as 8 years old

From diabetestimes.co.uk

Early signs of adulthood type 2 diabetes can be seen in children as young as 8 years old, decades before it is likely to be diagnosed, according to new research.

A team from the University of Bristol analysed genetic information already known to increase the chances of type 2 diabetes in adulthood, together with measures of metabolism across early life.
They found that being more susceptible to adult diabetes affected a child’s levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL), essential amino acids, and a chronic inflammatory trait measured in the blood. Certain types of HDL lipids were among the earliest features of susceptibility to type 2 diabetes.

Commonly diagnosed
Co-lead researcher Dr Joshua Bell, from the MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit at the university, said: “It’s remarkable that we can see signs of adult diabetes in the blood from such a young age-this is about 50 years before it’s commonly diagnosed.
“This is not a clinical study; nearly all participants were free of diabetes and most will not go on to develop it. This is about liability to disease and how genetics can tell us something about how the disease develops.”

The study tracked more than 4,000 children and the research team combined genetics with an approach called ‘metabolomics’, which involves measuring many small molecules in a blood sample to try and identify patterns that are unique to type 2 diabetes.
The effects of a genetic risk score (including 162 genetic elements) for adult type 2 diabetes were examined on over 200 metabolic traits measured four times on the same participants-once in childhood (when aged 8 years), twice in adolescence (when aged 16 years and 18 years), and once in young adulthood (when aged 25 years).

"If we want to prevent diabetes, we need to know how it starts. Genetics can help with that, but our aim here is to learn how diabetes develops, not to predict who will and will not develop it"

The study was conducted among young healthy people who were generally free of type 2 diabetes and other chronic diseases to see how early in life the effects of diabetes susceptibility become visible.
In particular, HDL cholesterol was reduced at age 8 before other types of cholesterol including LDL (bad cholesterol) were raised, and inflammatory glycoprotein acetyls and amino acids were elevated by 16 and 18 years old. These differences widened over time.

Dr Bell added: “If we want to prevent diabetes, we need to know how it starts. Genetics can help with that, but our aim here is to learn how diabetes develops, not to predict who will and will not develop it. Other methods may help with prediction but won’t necessarily tell us where to intervene.
“Knowing what early features of type 2 diabetes look like could help us to intervene much earlier to halt progression to full blown diabetes and its complications.”

The results were presented at this year’s European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) Annual Meeting in Barcelona, Spain (16-20 September).

https://diabetestimes.co.uk/early-signs-of-adult-type-2-visible-in-children-as-young-as-8-years-old/