A disease that often attacks children
When you hear of diabetes, it’s most often Type 2 diabetes which is also known as “adult onset diabetes”. It’s important to be educated about Type 1 diabetes as it more often than not affects children and can be overwhelming.
Detecting Type 1 Diabetes
Type 1 diabetes often appears suddenly. Symptoms include: unusual thirst, frequency of urination, being hungry while losing weight, blurred vision, nausea and vomiting, irritability and mood changes, and fatigue. Sometimes kids even feel like they have the flu.
There are several tests that can be administered to diagnose type 1 diabetes. Those include:
- A1C Test measures the average blood sugar over the past 8-12 weeks. A result of 6.4% or higher is of concern.
- Fasting blood sugar checks your blood sugar levels after a night of sleep. A level of 100 mg/dL is worth a conversation with your doctor.
- Glucose tolerance test requires two blood draws; the first is before drinking a super sugary drink, and the second is after drinking the drink and waiting 2 hours for your body to process the drink. You’re looking for a second test result to be under 140 mg/dL for you to be in the safe zone.
- A random blood sugar test doesn’t require fasting or drinking a super sugary drink. With this test, a level at 200 mg/dL or higher is an indication of diabetes.
- Antibody levels are often increased against certain proteins found in the pancreas when someone is diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.
Causes of Type 1 Diabetes
There isn’t a specific cause of type 1 diabetes. Most often the body’s immune system destroys insulin producing islet cells in the pancreas. Once the damage is done to these islet cells, little to no insulin is produced. Insulin is important because it helps move glucose into the bloodstream to provide energy to the body’s cells. Without enough insulin, sugar builds up in the bloodstream which can be life threatening.
Risk factors of developing type 1 diabetes include:
- Genetics: certain genes can cause this condition.
- Family history: having a parent or sibling with type 1 diabetes increases chances of developing it.
- Race: it is more common among white, non-hispanic children in the US
- Certain viruses can trigger the condition
If your child is showing symptoms that cannot be explained with a short term illness, please seek medical help. Type 1 diabetes left unmanaged can cause heart disease, eye damage, kidney damage, and more.
Our team at Healthstar Physicians Premier Medical is here for your entire family. We have two offices in Newport and an office in Sevierville. We provide preventative care, treat chronic conditions, and also provide acute and urgent care for patients. If you do not have a family doctor, we would love to get to know your family. In addition to family medicine, our team also provides osteopathic medicine, obesity medicine, and podiatry.
We are accepting new patients and accept most forms of insurance. To make an appointment in one of our Newport offices or our Sevierville office, please contact us.
