"Doctor, how is my child's diabetes different from my Father-in-law's diabetes?" Type 1 vs Type 2 Diabetes

Not all "Sugar problems" are the same. Unfortunately for Children with Diabetes, their families and surrounding people often confuse their problem with the problems grown-ups with diabetes have. Whereas this is factually not correct, it also leads to several problems for these children and also unnecessary trauma to these families.

Why cant Childhood Diabetes be treated with oral pills.

Giving injection to your own child can be one of the most traumatic experiences a parent can have.

Children's with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus or childhood diabetes( Type-1 Diabetes)require regular insulin injections. More commonly they need to be injected insulin four times a day and understandably this aspect of diabetes is the most painful one for the child as well as the parents. Add to it regular blood sugar testing that we have to do to estimate the dose requirement and blood glucose control and in this makes for a terrible number of pricks a child is getting day in and day out. No wonder every parent wants their child to be freed from these injections and daily pain.

Doctor, why did my child get diabetes?

The foremost question of parent asks is, " why....."

The diagnosis of childhood diabetes is a big shock to the family. Along with the huge mountain of sadness comes a big responsibility, and with it comes a question ”Doctor, why did it happen to my child”??........

What are the Signs and Symptoms of Childhood Diabetes...?

Usually, childhood diabetes has a dramatic presentation

 A seemingly healthy child starts passing urine very often, starts drinking a lot of water especially waking up in the night and asking for water. The large volume and frequency of urine is because of the increased blood glucose(sugar) load on the kidneys and the sugar draws out a lot of water from the body as urine. Because of the losses , he/she starts losing weight and the clothes start becoming loose. This despite the fact that the appetite and thirst are very much increased. The child may be really irritable and tired all the time. Often a subtle clue may be that ants are crawling around the place where the child urinates in the toilet or the courtyard.

What Is Childhood Diabetes?

What is diabetes

Childhood diabetes (also known as Type 1 Diabetes) is a medical condition in which the body cannot produce insulin. Insulin is needed by the body to convert sugar glucose) into energy for body cells. Without energy body cells cannot work. Hence without insulin our body starves to death. 

It is important to note that everyone is insulin dependent. No one can survive without insulin. People without diabetes make insulin in their pancreas.Children with diabetes need to inject insulin inside their body.

Why does the body stop producing insulin??

Mangoes are Sweeter This Season

This is not an educative or an awareness post. Maybe its more than one....

    Diabetic kids occupy a big chunk of my Pediatric Endocrinology practice .. and my heart and soul. There isn't a day that passes without me playing their pancreas and teaching their parents to play the same role. Challenging as it is, it has its own share of sweet rewards something i ve experienced this mango season.
                          Emotion is a really big part of Childhood diabetic care and one emotion thats so strong in kids I ve realised is the desire to eat a mango.... You wont appreciate it untill u meet a kid who cant eat one. 

But this season has been different. Families who have learnt advanced carbohydrate counting are seeing a joy they missed for years together, the joy of their tiny tots devouring mangoes and still having their blood sugars under control... I meet diabetic kids who love me now for I let them eat mangoes and their parents who often have tears of joy when they tell me this is the first season after years that they have brought mangoes to their house and hence themselves eaten them after years. 

Children with diabetes need not miss out on the sweet delicacies of life.
 All they need to learn is how to balance insulin with food. 
                                                                                                    whatever food it may be.. 



and now everytime I eat a mango myself, the reminiscence of all these kids makes them taste sweeter.......



happy to help :-)

Dr Uppal