Childhood Diabetes Causes, Symptoms and Treatment
Diabetes can affect any person irrespective of his age. It can be seen not only in adults but also in children. Type 1 Diabetes is the most common type of childhood diabetes, which is seen in about 90 percent of the children under 16. This type of childhood diabetes is caused when the pancreas are not able to produce insulin. In this type of diabetes, the body's immune system attacks and destroys its own insulin-producing cells.
Childhood diabetes is not very common but when it occurs it can be a threat. Childhood diabetes can be severe and can lead to dangerous complications. Children suffering from childhood diabetes tend to live longer than the people who develop diabetes later in the life. The reason behind this may be that they get into a routine of controlling diabetes by maintaining balanced diet, healthy lifestyle and taking regular insulin injections.
Causes of Childhood Diabetes
Like adults, the causes of childhood diabetes are also unknown. But there are certain risk factors that increase the chance of developing childhood diabetes. They include:
- Physical inactivity
- Unhealthy diet
- Sedentary lifestyle
- Environmental factors
Majority of the children suffering from type 1 childhood diabetes don't have a family history of diabetes. Nowadays children are more inactive since they spend hours a day either watching TV or playing computer games. This increases the risk of developing the symptoms of childhood diabetes.
Symptoms of Childhood Diabetes
The symptoms of childhood diabetes are similar to the symptoms of diabetes in adults. Sometimes it is difficult for the parents to identify the symptoms of childhood diabetes since they can remain unnoticed until the disease in is full force. The symptoms of childhood diabetes include:
- Increased thirst and frequent urination
- Extreme hunger
- Irritability
- Unusual weight loss
- Frequent infections
- Slow healing of wounds or bruises
- Tingling or numbness in hand's and feet
- Tiredness
- Behavioral problems
- Headaches
- Tummy pains
Treatment of Childhood Diabetes
Childhood diabetes should not be taken lightly. The early detection of symptoms of childhood diabetes is necessary for early treatment. If left untreated childhood diabetes may result in more defined and difficult treatment.
The treatment of childhood diabetes aims at maintaining normal blood sugar levels. Most of the cases of childhood diabetes can be controlled by medications and insulin treatment. The children should be injected with fast-acting insulin during day and slow-acting insulin at night daily.
Along with the insulin treatment, the child must be given a proper healthy diet and encouraged to perform a regular exercise. Doing regular exercise helps in lowering blood sugar level by improving blood circulation. Also it moves sugar from blood to the cells.
The child with childhood diabetes must be given a healthy balanced diet, which is high in fiber and carbohydrates. The proportion of diet depends upon the age and weight of a child. Their diet should include a lot of fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains and foods that are rich in nutrition and low in fat and calories.
Parents of those suffering from childhood diabetes should take a proper care of their children. They should look out for the signs of low sugar levels and should always have an access to sugar. A regular checkup is essential in order to keep a record of the blood sugar level.