Diabetes
Diabetes

Diabetes mellitus in children: causes and treatment

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This ailment can be diagnosed in an infant and in an older child. Why there is diabetes, few know. Its etiology is diverse. Most often, sugar in the blood begins to rise in children from 6 to 12 years. In this pathology has its own characteristics. All the processes in the baby's body proceed much faster, compared with the adult person. Because of this, children have the disease in a more severe form, and complications will occur more often.

Diabetes mellitus in children: causes and treatment

First of all, the pancreas of small patients with diabetes mellitus suffers. Its dimensions are small: by the age of 10 it has a length of about 12 cm and a weight of only 50 grams. Therefore, any, even minor failures in her work are critical for the child.

In science, diabetes mellitus appearing in children and adults is divided into the first( insulin-dependent) and the second( insulin-independent) type. The difference between them is significant. Children usually suffer the first type of ailment. The causes of diabetes can be very different.

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Disease in children

Adults should pay attention to changes in the behavior of the baby, and, if possible, promptly consult a specialist, because, diabetes in children is rapid. If untimely help comes diabetic shock and coma. Often the baby is delivered to a medical institution in an unconscious state.

The first manifestations of diabetes in a child:

  • not passing thirst and a feeling of dry mouth( the most common manifestation of the disease);
  • frequent urge to the toilet;
  • a constant hunger;
  • weight loss;
  • vision impairment;
  • malaise, weakness.

These are the primary signs of the disease. Of course, it is not at all necessary that they will manifest themselves against the background of elevated blood sugar, similar symptoms may appear in many other diseases. However, the appearance of even one of them in the child must be a mandatory basis for the parents to apply to the physician. By giving certain tests, you can establish an accurate diagnosis.

Diabetes mellitus in children: causes and treatment

The main symptomatology of diabetes:

  • sticky urine( against frequent urination) with a typical odor of acetone;
  • excruciating thirst, especially at night;
  • abrupt weight loss against a background of full nutrition;
  • dryness and itching of the skin;
  • burning sensation after urination.

Similar symptoms are considered more specific and allow you to suspect diabetes in a child even without a preliminary diagnosis.

Because of what the disease begins

Causes of diabetes in children can be very diverse. The most important of them are:

  • Hereditary. The first thing that causes diabetes is predisposition. Very often, pathology occurs in someone from relatives.
  • Infection lesions. Modern science has proven that rubella, chickenpox and other viral diseases lead to damage to the pancreas.
  • Eating lots of sweet food. The predilection for easily assimilated carbohydrates( sugar, buns, chocolate) is a prerequisite for obesity. The pancreas works at the limit of its capabilities and is gradually depleted, because of which the production of insulin decreases or ceases altogether.
  • A sedentary lifestyle. Low activity can lead to weight gain and worsening of metabolic processes in the internal organs, provoking an increase in glucose in the blood.
  • Weak immunity against long-term colds. The child's organism simply ceases to protect itself normally from infectious agents, because of this so-called."Opportunistic" microorganisms affect internal organs, including cells of the pancreas.

Diabetes mellitus in children: causes and treatment

In addition, the causes of diabetes in children should be various toxic lesions of the gastrointestinal tract, abdominal trauma, food poisoning.

Diagnostics

Before treating high sugar in the blood, the patient is examined. Diagnosis of diabetes in children is the delivery of certain tests. Also, the doctor will interview the parents of a small patient for specific symptoms. Diabetes type II at an early age is extremely rare. Sometimes it is diagnosed in adolescents who have excessive body weight. The disease of this type is characterized by a gradual increase in symptoms and a more "calm" course.

Much more often in young children, there is insulin-dependent diabetes, which usually occurs from the beginning in an acute form. Diagnosing the disease, in the blood of a patient with diabetes, identify specific antibodies to insulin, glutamate decarboxylase. Their presence proves the autoimmune cause of the pathology.

In type II disease, antibodies in the blood are not detected, but a large amount of insulin is found. In this case, the sensitivity of the tissues to this hormone will be reduced. Analyzes of blood and urine doctor usually appoints both before and after meals to determine the level of glucose and its changes.

In addition, the specialist in diagnosis will rely on the general symptoms manifested in the young patient. The presence of strong thirst and unexplained weight loss will be indicative of type I diabetes. About the insulin-independent form of the disease will say excess weight and smoothness of symptoms.

Diabetes mellitus in children: causes and treatment

Treatment of

Is diabetes mellitus treated? Yes. Will he be cured? Unfortunately no. Today, in medicine, there is no method that allows to reliably and completely save a small patient from this pathology, but it is possible to significantly improve the quality and life expectancy. In children, treatment is almost the same as in adults. Assignable therapy is directed, first of all, to restore normal metabolism in the body for a long time. Mainly maintain a normal level of glucose and insulin in the blood. This is carried out constantly, throughout the life of a person.

Measure sugar within a day several times. Periodically and accurately on the schedule put nyxes of insulin, in dosages prescribed by an endocrinologist. Be sure to keep a diary where the glucometer readings are recorded and injections are noted.

Treatment of diabetes in children should be accompanied by ancillary activities( among which dietotherapy is in the first place).The baby should immediately be taught to eat healthy and have regular physical activity.

Is it possible to cure diabetes without resorting to medication? Unfortunately no. Cure without drugs is impossible. To monitor the state of health of the baby will have to constantly, daily, without days off and holidays. However, it is impossible to name medical measures too complex and time-consuming.

All procedures will take no more than 20-30 minutes a day, but the life expectancy of the baby will depend on them. The main thing here is discipline and accuracy. Passing even one injection of insulin can lead to serious consequences. As the child grows, the dosage of the medicine will have to be adjusted.

Lifespan

Insulin-dependent diabetes type I, even with the development of modern therapies, refers to quite serious diseases. It is considered incurable and can occur suddenly. Due to the fact that the pathology is most often diagnosed in children and adolescents, it is called the diabetes of young people.

Diabetes mellitus in children: causes and treatment

The disease will require hormone replacement therapy, so that the reduction in insulin production by the pancreas is compensated by its intake from the outside. Without the timely reduction of glucose in the blood, there is a glycemic coma with a high probability of death. In addition, the irregular intake of medications prescribed by the attending physician can provoke various complications of diabetes in children, associated with damage to the kidneys, heart and eyes.

Accordingly, the life expectancy of a patient with type I diabetes will largely depend on strict adherence to the insulin intake regimen, healthy eating habits, physical activity. Statistics of the past period says that from the moment of detection of the disease a person on average lived about 30 years. At present, the outlook has become more rosy.

So, doctors fix deaths of patients suffering from diabetes, aged 65-70 years. In other words, today patients with this disease live as much as ordinary people live. Much will depend on the internal mood of the patient with diabetes. Positive thinking and lack of psychoemotional loads have a positive effect on health, and increase the life expectancy of even seriously ill people.

Prevention

How to avoid the disease? Prevention of diabetes in children is quite simple. Unfortunately, there are simply no measures that guarantee 100% protection from the development of diabetes. However, to reduce the likelihood of the disease, prevent complications and increase life expectancy is possible. It must be remembered that prevented diabetes at an early age can manifest itself in the future.

First of all, you need to adhere to the correct nutrition, which allows you to maintain a normal water balance in the body( the pancreas produces bicarbonate in the form of a solution to ensure the entry of glucose into the cells).Therefore, you need to teach the child to drink 1 glass of clean water after waking up and half an hour before eating.

At excess weight in the child of the parent should watch the caloric content of his diet, gradually reducing portions. It is better to feed your baby more often, but with less food. So it will be easier for him to get used to reducing food intake. Especially it is necessary to monitor the reduction in the diet of a child of simple carbohydrates( sugar, chocolate, flour products).It is generally desirable to avoid them. It is because of the addiction to sweets that children's diabetes of type II can begin. For the preparation of dessert dishes, it is better to use sorbitol or xylitol.

Parents need to know how diabetes is manifested in the early stages in order to consult a doctor in a timely manner. The earlier treatment is started, the higher the chances of success.

Physical activity is also important. Moreover, an hour or two of playing football a day is enough. Sports activities help to normalize metabolism, improve the work of the gastrointestinal tract, including the pancreas, and the baby can have a chance never to get sick with this terrible disease.

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