Diabetes
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Type 1 Diabetes
Diabetes is a chronic metabolic disorder which affects 18 million people in the United States, over two mission of whom have its most sever form, childhood diabetes (Childrens Diabetes Foundation at Denver, 2007). Having diabetes means you blood sugar is higher than what it should be. With Juvenile diabetes, the pancreas does not make insulin. Insulin in a hormone that the body normally makes to help convert the glucose in the food we eat into the energy we need. In the absence of this insulin, the glucose will stay in the blood. This results in the blood sugar level being too high which will cause the person to get sick if not treated.
Symptoms
There are many symptoms but they aren’t obvious unless you are aware of them ahead of time. To someone who isn’t familiar with diabetes, the symptoms many seem common for a child. Symptoms include being very thirsty and thus urinating often, feeling very tired or hungry, sudden loss of weight without dieting, possibly having sores that take a long time to heal, having dry itchy skin and even having blurry vision. The onset of these symptoms is usually sudden and action should be taken as soon as you think something may be wrong. The diagnosis for juvenile diabetes can be done quickly with a blood test and treatment for diabetes can stop the symptoms from happening.
Juvenile diabetes, if not treating and cared for, can have many adverse affects on ones health. Nearly 39,000 Americans lose their sight to diabetes each year. One out of three people with insulin-dependent diabetes develops kidney failure and the need for a kidney transplant (Childrens Diabetes Foundation at Denver, 2007). Over time, high glucose can lead to other serious problems as well that affect your heart, nerves, gums and teeth. Virtually every major organ in the body can be damaged by diabetes, however, taking care of your diabetes daily will
help keep your sugar levels on target and prevent these types of health problems that diabetes can cause over time.
Although research on type 1 diabetes has been going on for over 20 years, researchers have not been able to identify ways of preventing this disease. They can however, identify people at risk for type 1 diabetes. Scientists believe that both genetic and environmental factors contribute to diabetes risk. Relatives of people with type 1 diabetes have about a 10 to 20 times greater risk of developing this form of diabetes compared to the general population (National Institute of Diabetes & Digestive & Kidney Diseases, 2007).
Children with type 1 diabetes have to be aware of what they eat and check their blood sugar levels often. Persons with type 1 diabetes will have a life time treatment plan that will also include taking insulin. This insulin replaces or supplements the body’s own insulin, restoring normal or near-normal blood glucose control (McCullouch, 2007). Carefully controlling the blood sugar levels can help prevent the possible short—term effects as well as the more serious long-term effects of high blood sugar.
Equally important is their diet. Although there is no “diabetes diet,” those with diabetes do need to know what to eat and how much to eat. Foods that are high in nutrition and low in fat and calories such as fruits, vegetables, and whole grains are recommended while decreasing the number of animal products and especially sweets. It is important to also understand how much you are eating. To keep your blood level consistent, it is important to eat the same amount of food with the same proportion of carbs, protein and fats around the same time every day. This will keep your body balanced.
Physical activity is also important. Exercise is good for everyone, but it is especially good for children with type 1 diabetes. Exercise moves sugar from your blood into your cells.
The more active you are, the lower your blood sugar level. Exercise is also good just because it keeps you healthier and in shape.
There are other challenges as well. Things such as stress and illness will change the levels of the many hormones in the body. During an illness, the body will produce hormones that raise the body’s blood sugar level. Stress can also be harmful as the hormones your