Managing diabetes in children
As incidences of diabetes keep rising throughout the world, there are increasing cases reported among children. The most common type of diabetes in children is Type One Diabetes also called juvenile diabetes, but recently, the number of children and young adults affected by Type Two Diabetes is beginning to rise.
Diabetes is a disease in which the body’s ability to produce or respond to the hormone insulin is impaired, resulting in abnormal metabolism of carbohydrates and elevated levels of glucose in the blood and urine.
Type One Diabetes is one in which the pancreas does not make insulin. The pancreas creates a hormone known as insulin that moves glucose in the blood into the cells, where it is used for fuel.
According to a Consultant Endocrinologist at the Maitama District Hospital, Abuja, Dr Ameen Ibraheem, Type One Diabetes develops in children due to Optus immune disease which means that the body produces anti-bodies against the organ known as pancreas that releases insulin.
He said that once this happens, the pancreas is destroyed and the body will not be able to produce insulin, and the amount of glucose taken will also not digest. This, he said, constitutes 1015% of all types of diabetes while the type two which is the major type constitutes about 80-85% of all diabetes.
Type Two Diabetes on the other hand is the type that the cells in the child’s body don’t respond to insulin, and glucose builds up in the bloodstream which is called insulin resistance.
An endocrinologist with Rapha Health Care and Consultants, Abuja, Dr Regina Ojah, said diabetes in children has been an age-long issue but the worrisome thing is that, new cases of Type Two Diabetes is now seen in children. She describes it as when the sugar in the blood is more than it should be and when this occurs, there are consequences.
She said: “For this, the patient depends on insulin for life but there is a time in their lives that the pancreas that produces the insulin may resurrect.”
Dr Ojah said the and symptoms are described with the signs often T’s, “Tiredness, which makes the patient weak; Thirst always wanting to drink water; Thin which has to do with weight loss and; Toilet which is frequent urination.”
She added that apart from the dehydration that makes the child thin, there are other methods the body uses to try to compensate by breaking down other contents of the body like glucose and protein just to supplement.
The symptoms most times differ if it affects a female child, Dr Ojah said. “Some of them develop frequent vaginal discharge and itch (candidiasis), blurred vision, it affects their kidneys, and make them have ulcer and wound that may refuse to heal.”
She explained that many mothers ignore most of these signs leaving the condition to be complicated before they seek medical attention, adding that children fall prey to diabetes because of unhealthy lifestyle introduced to them by their parents that think they are doing them good by giving them junk food instead of introducing them to healthy diet and good lifestyle.
“Parents think they’re doing their children a favour by taking them to fast food joints. You now see a child of between 8-10 years that is obese, and that can lead to Type Two Diabetes.”
Dr Ojah advised parents to teach their children healthy lifestyle and exercise, adding that eating moderately in good proportion that is; adequate protein and vegetables and eating healthy will help the child to cope with the disease.
Dr Ameen Ibraheem of Maitama District Hospital, Abuja, said that The Type Two Diabetes is now reported in children because of the changes that have taken place in diets and lifestyles.
“Children these days eat a lot of unhealthy food; even parents encourage them by giving them sugary food like cakes and soft drinks for them to take to school, and it is not all of them that participate in physical activities. They just sit in class and listen and when they get home they sleep without participating in any physical exercise,” he noted.
He said also that the number of hours spent on television has been linked to increase in the prevalence of diabetes in children. “They eat, watch television and sleep without participating in exercise to keep them fit.”
The expert said the most important thing to do to prevent and manage diabetes in adults and children was to increase a level of physical activities. He added that the second important thing is to control and regulate our diets.
“The natural foods are the best foods we need in different proportions to achieve a balanced diet. Also cut down the amount of sugary and canned foods, such foods are the cause of the increase in the prevalence of diabetes. Once we can adopt those two changes we will be able to control or prevent it totally,” he said.
He advised parents of children with Type Two Diabetes to work well on their diets and physical activities, adding that with such therapy, it was possible to take them off drugs.