Juvenile Diabetes

Juvenile Diabetes - What Are They and How to Live With Them
By Michael Wong

Juvenile diabetes, also known as Type 1 diabetes or insulin-dependent diabetes, is a disorder of the body's immune system. It is a disease that has to do with the body not being able to keep good control over the amount of sugar in the blood. This happens because an organ called the pancreas has a problem making insulin, which moves sugar out of the blood. To make up for this, a person who has juvenile diabetes has to inject, using a needle, two or three times a day (or using an insulin pump).

Juvenile diabetes is the second most common chronic disease affecting children, teenagers and young adults, and it is a disease they never outgrow. Type 1 diabetes strikes children suddenly and requires multiple injections of insulin daily. Insulin, however, is not a cure for diabetes, nor does it prevent its eventual and devastating complications that may include kidney failure, blindness, heart disease, stroke, and amputation.

Juvenile diabetes is much the same as that for adults. Eating a healthy and well balanced diet is one aspect of successfully managing this dangerous disease. Type 1 diabetes new pumps and monitors for diabetics with type 1. Technology is making it easier for kids and teens to manage their type 1. Learn about the latest glucose monitors and insulin pumps, and how they could help your child. Type 1 diabetes currently affects over one million americans and, although previously considered to be a childhood disorder, this is no longer the case.

It can develop suddenly, with excessive thirst and urination being the first symptoms. Muscle pain and weakness, negative reactions to foods that seemed to abate after she went on a gluten-free diet, Joint swelling, fatigue, excessive thirst, frequent urination, blurry vision, weight loss, extreme hunger, rapid deep breathing, and the smell of acetone on the breath. Behavioral changes include altered state of consciousness, aggression, mania, and in the most severe form, diabetic coma (which can be fatal). Generally, the onset of type 2 diabetes occurs later in life, and is related to lifestyle and obesity.

The challenges of being diagnosed with juvenile diabetes can sometimes seem enormous. It is the affects it can have later on in a child's life. Children with type 2 diabetes have been found to have more life threatening complications than type 1 diabetics. Some of the major problems juveniles with this type of diabetes face include heart disease, damage to the nervous system, renal failure, blindness, and limb amputations, particularly of the feet and lower legs. The first line of defense against juvenile type 2 diabetes is probably the most obvious.

Because insulin is necessary for life, people with type 1 diabetes must take one or more injections of insulin every day in order to metabolize their food. Untreated juvenile diabetes can cause a person to go into a coma and can even be fatal.

Diet plays a very significant role in the management of juvenile diabetes, so forget the junk food at the mall or pigging out at a party. Maintain a healthy body weight through proper diet and exercise thus preventing the onset of the disease. Eat smart and eat healthy, and insulin injections have to be timed with your meals. Sticking to a time schedule is very important, so forget sleeping in late, because your blood sugar levels can drop dangerously low during an extended snooze.

For the juvenile diabetic a healthy diet is the cornerstone of their treatment. A well balanced diet low in sugar, saturated fats, and salt is the way to go. High fiber foods such as fruits and vegetables, along with complex carbohydrates are best for the diabetic. Even then foods high in carbs should be eaten throughout the day to help prevent large rises in blood glucose levels. Regular physical activity or exercise is also recommended to help insulin move glucose out of the blood and into the cells. Childhood obesity is an epidemic all parents should take seriously.

The use of an insulin pump to control juvenile diabetes, may be a more convenient way of administering insulin providing more freedom throughout the day. Once diagnosed, several injections of insulin will be needed a day, the diabetic pump uses a small needle inserted under the skin on the left side of the abdomen, the bloodstream absorbs a small, continuous dose of insulin throughout the day. One stick, more freedom.

Having diabetes requires you to be more disciplined and have more fore thought about your decisions. Always remember that you control juvenile diabetes, it does not control you.

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