Symptoms of Juvenile Diabetes

What are the early signs and symptoms of juvenile diabetes? Juvenile diabetes is having a sudden onset. The cause of juvenile diabetes is destruction of insulin producing beta cells of the pancreas. Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas which changes the glucose in the energy needed by the body. The most common in children is type 1 diabetes mellitus. The early signs and symptoms of the disease include:

How does juvenile diabetes manifest?

Diabetes in youngsters usually appears in the form of Type 1 Diabetes. More than 90 percent of children under the age of 16 suffer from this type of diabetes. Type 1 Diabetes is an autoimmune disorder, where the body's cells themselves start attacking the other helpful cells, treating them like enemies. This results in the destruction of tissues and vital organs, over a period of time.

Symptoms of Juvenile Diabetes

Frequent bathroom trips – High blood sugar increases the amount of blood that is filtered through the kidneys, leading to an increase in urinary output.

Being thirsty all the time – Dehydration caused by the high urine output leads to an increased thirst.

Increased hunger and eating – The lack of insulin keeps the sugar in the blood, starving the cells for the energy they need to function. Because of this perceived energy deficit the body responds with hunger pains.

It’s not always apparent that a child has type 1 or juvenile diabetes. Some of the symptoms seem like average childhood problems that occur. Nausea and/or vomiting can be misconstrued as the flu. Irritability, being tired and listless may be attributed to behaviors all children exhibit at one time or another. The discovery of juvenile diabetes may happen during a visit to a physician for another ailment such as a vaginal yeast infection for girls or even a routine examination.

Vision changes - they should not be attributed to too much time in front of the television or computer screen.

Sweet smelling breath may be noticed by parents and may equally well be attributed to something the child has eaten.

Increased appetites may be remarked upon, but of course children are growing and can have large appetites - why would a parent necessarily consider this to be a bad thing?

Heavy, laboured breathing is another symptom which can be masked by any number of respiratory problems which seem to be more prevalent in children nowadays.

These symptoms can occur alone but because diabetes is a disease that affects entire bodily functions there is a good chance that these symptoms will start slowly but will occur as a group. If one is noticeable it is a good idea to ask your child if they are experiencing any of the other known signs.

The sooner the symptoms of juvenile diabetes are recognized the sooner the child can be taken to the doctor for the proper tests to diagnose this disease. Diabetes in children, while incurable, can be managed successfully with a combination of insulin therapy and diet. Left untreated diabetes can cause a whole host of complications that can seriously affect any diabetics ability to live a normal life.