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Taking Preventive Measures for Children
Diabetes Foundation Launches New Statewide Awareness CampaignWhen children are laughing and playing in the summertime, it's difficult to imagine that anything could be wrong. Yet a startling and frightening number of Mississippians do not recognize the warning signs and risk factors associated with diabetes and generally do not believe that infants, toddlers and young children may develop the disease.
"Children of any age with symptoms of diabetes should have their blood glucose tested," said Irena McClain, MPH, associate director of the Diabetes Foundation of Mississippi, the state's only nonprofit organization that provides support services to all Mississippi families affected by either type 1 or type 2 diabetes. "This is the basic premise behind the Diabetes Foundation's new statewide awareness campaign: You're Never Too Young for Diabetes."
Launched this summer, the campaign promotes diabetes awareness and education, particularly for individuals who are in direct contact with children– pediatricians and other healthcare providers, caretakers, parents, grandparents and teachers.
"It's a common misconception that because a child is only an infant, toddler or young child, there must be another reason for the symptoms that he or she is experiencing," McClain said. "We hear stories from parents all the time. They tell us, 'I thought my child had a stomach ache' or 'my child played too hard for too long, which is why he was thirsty and extremely tired.' In some cases, this may be true, but children who experience the symptoms of diabetes should have their blood sugar tested. End of discussion."
McClain relayed the story of Branson, a 2-year-old boy who arrived at a hospital emergency room barely conscious, with a spiked blood-sugar level of 1,100. His mom recalled watching doctors huddle to discuss the unusually high blood-sugar number that didn't even register on the blood-glucose monitor. After being moved from one hospital to another, and finally airlifted to a third medical institution, the toddler spent several days in the pediatric intensive care unit before his blood sugar stabilized at a normal level. When specialists diagnosed the boy with diabetes, his mother said "but he's still a baby. How can he have diabetes?"
A diabetes diagnosis in children is not all that uncommon, said McClain.
"There are an alarming number of children developing diabetes, particularly type 2 diabetes," she said. "What's even more alarming, though, is the number of people who simply do not understand that children of any age can develop diabetes."
That's why it's imperative for the adults in children's lives to understand that undiagnosed diabetes can be lethal, McClain said, and to know the key warning signs among children: increased thirst, frequent urination, bed-wetting or other accidents in children who are toilet trained, unusual sleepiness and fatigue, irritability, unexplained weight loss and nausea or vomiting.
"Err on the side of caution, because undiagnosed diabetes can lead to the life-threatening medical condition, diabetic ketoacidosis or DKA, which may require emergency medical intervention," said McClain.
In Branson's case, that's exactly what happened. He is now back to enjoying toddler life. "But not all stories have a happy ending," cautioned McClain. "You're never too young for diabetes."
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