Jessica was 9 years old.  When all of a sudden she was losing weight, a lot of weight. She went from a kid’s size 12 down to a size 8.  At first I thought this must have had something to do with the fact that her father

When we were on holidays at my current partners parents house.  Trin’s father made a comment I at first dismissed. He asked if she had diabetes. As he had noticed the weight loss and had also witnessed her frequently using the toilet and drinking lots of water.

When we returned home from holidays we were visiting my parents I mentioned this to my dad who had diabeties type 2. And he suggested that we test her blood glucose level with his machine.  After doing so and his machine registered her BGL to high to record I started to get worried. The following day I took her to the doctor to get some tests done.  The examination had discovered that her kidneys were twice the size of normal when the blood tests came back it was confirmed she had diabeties type 1.  She was admitted to hospital and insulin was administered straight away. After two days she was injecting her self with insulin in her tummy. What a brave little girl to be able to cope with this at such a young age.

Juvenile Diabetes (JD), also known as Type 1 Diabetes, is a medical condition in which the pancreas does not make any insulin, a hormone which moves sugar from the bloodstream to the cells after digestion, so that it can be used as energy. Since individuals with JD produce no insulin at all, they need to receive injections of it to keep their blood sugar at appropriate levels. The onset of JD usually comes in childhood, as opposed to Type 2 Diabetes, which ordinarily begins in adulthood -- although with obesity increasing among children, more Type 2 Diabetes is being seen in that age group. In Type 2 Diabetes, some insulin is produced, so individuals may be able to manage their disease with weight loss and diet management.

A few things to look out for in children.

·         Sudden weight loss

·         Frequent toileting

·         Drinking lots of water

·         Slurred words

·         Laziness \ sleepiness

·         Balance off

·         Mood swings

 There is so much to write about juvinille diabetes. I might leave some for future advise. Just wanted to open your minds to juvinille diabetes.

2007 is the international year of diabetes in children and adolescence