Juvenile Diabetes – What is Juvenile Diabetes and What a Parent Can Do to Help
Today around the world there are is an increasing number of children who have been diagnosed with diabetes. Most of them will be diagnosed with Juvenile Diabetes. It is also known as Type 1 diabetes and is the name given to a disease in which the body has trouble regulating its blood glucose, or blood sugar levels. It is also known as insulin dependent because the individual will need insulin to survive.
Juvenile diabetes is considered an autoimmune disease. The individuals immune system will attack and kill its own cells in the pancreas. The pancreas is solely responsible for the producing the insulin hormone.
The diabetes in children normally manifests in the form of the Type 1 diabetes. This kind of diabetes afflicts mostly children under the age of sixteen but anyone can be affected. This autoimmune disorder must be closely monitored and daily insulin shots or an insulin pump may be required.
A wide number of children suffer from Juvenile Diabetes. Its rate however will differ from one nation to the other, and even at other times it may differ within ethnic groupings. In Scotland, there is about a 2.5% rate of children who have contracted this disease. In the countries of Wales and England it is 1.7%. Japan has a rate of about 0.3% and Finland also has a rate of 4.3% of its children with diabetes. In Europe, the rate of increase has been growing in recent years. Scandinavia has the highest rate with approximately 20% of the diabetes cases are Type 1 Juvenile Diabetes.
It is not yet known what really triggers this Juvenile Diabetes in the children. However, some research has shown that it may well be due to the genetic makeup of the children and probably the general environment they live in. Some theories believe a predisposition to the disease which is then triggered by a reaction to a toxic or infectious agent. Of the approximately 17 million people who have diabetes, about 1.4 million have the Type 1 diabetes. The disease is generally not believed to be caused by obesity and excessive sugar intake.
As parents it is very necessary that you learn the symptoms of diabetes. The most common signs are listed below.
• Increased thirst
• Hunger
• Progressive weight loss
• Frequent Urination
• Increased thirst
• Weakness and Fatigue
Once diagnosed, a parent must know how to administer the injections of insulin and also how to monitor the levels of blood glucose on a regular basis. You should also give your child a healthy balanced diet and watch their weight. There is increasing evidence to suggest that moderate exercise and activity helps keep diabetes in check by regulating the blood sugar levels. This can help avoid hypoglycemic (low blood sugar) and hyperglycemic (high blood sugar) reactions, which can be life threatening.