"Drinks And Urinates More Often" - Alarming Symptoms Of Diabetes In A Child

"Drinks and urinates more often" - alarming symptoms of diabetes in a child

Diabetes mellitus is very insidious: at any age, it begins suddenly, against the background of complete health. This disease is especially dangerous for children, since it takes only 2-4 weeks from the moment of pancreas failure to the development of life-threatening ketoacidosis, and all symptoms can be easily attributed to fatigue or infection.

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In the UK, doctors urge parents to observe the "Rule of Four T" - to pay attention to symptoms that may indicate the onset of type I diabetes in a child:

Toilet: increased urinary frequency, including renewed bedwetting in babies, increased volume of urine in diapers in babies.

• Thirsty: The child is constantly thirsty, including at night, and increased fluid intake does not quench the thirst. You need to be especially careful if the child has a habit of keeping a container of water next to the bed so as not to run to the kitchen every time.
• Tired (tiredness): tiredness, weakness, drowsiness for no objective reason.
• Thinner (weight loss): The child began to lose a lot of weight without diet or increased physical activity.

Even if only one symptom was found, this is a reason to immediately contact a pediatrician and take a fasting blood sugar test.

Pediatrician Sergei Butriy in his blog draws attention to the fact that parents often do not attach importance to these symptoms, or even rejoice at them. Sleeping more than usual? Well, okay, sleep is the best medicine. Have you lost weight? Fine, otherwise the belly is full. Moreover, even doctors often attribute the symptoms described above to something harmless, or misdiagnose. Ketoacidosis often mimics viral gastroenteritis, up to vomiting and an acute abdomen, which leads to emergency hospitalization in the infectious diseases department, and sometimes - erroneous surgery. Lost time and misdiagnosis can lead to ketoacidic coma and even death from acute cerebral edema.

“If you do not start the administration of insulin on time, then there is a rather big chance of complications and even death of the child,” the doctor writes.

The problem of timely detection of diabetes mellitus in children is acute in all countries, so doctors pay great attention to educational work. In the Italian province of Parma, doctors for eight years circulated posters in schools, kindergartens and pharmacies that read: “Does your child drink and urinate more than usual? Is his bed wet again? Check his sugar level! " Thousands of postcards were also printed and handed out on the streets, in supermarkets and even at football games. The results were impressive: 81% of children with diabetes did not have severe ketoacidosis, compared with 27% of children from other regions where the campaign was not carried out.