Diabetes in children: how to deal with it?

November 14 is World Diabetes Day. This autoimmune disease is increasingly found in children. What is the reason? And what should children and their parents do?

Is the child very thirsty? Does he often get up at night to go to the bathroom? Tired quickly in class? At first glance, these not very worrying signs may indicate a dangerous disease - diabetes mellitus. Every November 14th is observed as World Diabetes Day. As statistics show, diabetes - diabetes in common parlance - is affecting children more and more. In Germany, there are 32,000 diabetic patients under the age of 20, of which almost two-thirds are children under the age of 14. About 3,200 new cases are diagnosed each year (2,000 of which are type 2 diabetes). And the number of children with type 1 diabetes is increasing annually by about 3.5 percent per year, said endocrinologist and diabetes expert Thomas Kapellen of the University Hospital Leipzig in an interview with DW. "The current statistics are worrying, especially as the number of children with type 1 diabetes is growing every year," the expert stressed. Pediatricians in Germany, and even across Europe, are concerned that they are increasingly having to deal with this chronic disease in practice.

Myths about diabetes

The most common misconception is that diabetes occurs in children solely because of an unhealthy diet. "There's no need to beat yourself up," said the German doctor. "This is the first thing we're trying to explain to parents. We're trying to free them from guilt and dispel stereotypes. It's an autoimmune disease, to be more precise, a malfunction of the immune system, which causes a decrease in insulin-producing pancreatic beta-cells. Scientists around the world do not yet have a firm answer to the question of why this happens. Some people have a genetic predisposition to diabetes, but most of them never get it.

"So," insisted the specialist from Leipzig, "there must be external factors. And here scientists mean not only environmental pollution but also the spread of viral diseases, the increasing practice of cesarean sections." However, one can only speculate about the reasons, as well as, for example, why type 1 diabetes is more common in northern Europe than in the south, and in the west, there are more children with diabetes than in the east.

Another equally common misconception: a child with type 1 diabetes should not eat sweets. "25 years ago, when I first started pediatric diabetes, we really worked on a strict diet. But today we choose individual therapy that takes the child's lifestyle into account," explains the expert. A child with type 1 diabetes is no longer prohibited from eating birthday cakes and drinking sugary sodas. Of course, this requires adjustment of therapy so that the body receives the right amount of insulin.

It is also a misconception that diabetes can be avoided by taking preventive measures, namely by following a healthy lifestyle and diet. This statement is true only for type 2 diabetes. "Type 1 diabetes is a life-changing disease," says Thomas Capellen. this fact".

living with diabetes

The first thing that 13-year-old gym teacher Anna, who was recently diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, did was teach a lesson about diabetes and tell her classmates about the disease. The girl does not need to look for a secluded place to measure performance and make the necessary injections. Openness and "normality" as much as possible - doctors call for this, families, and the environment of children with diabetes. A child with diabetes can do everything his friends can do, only he has to control his blood sugar and adjust it.

Of course, insulin therapy comes with many limitations. Every day you need to inject insulin, hurt the child. This is especially difficult, first of all, for parents of young patients. But today they and their parents have a choice: a syringe pen, a pump - a small electronic device that injects insulin according to pre-programmed individual settings. Modern technology makes therapy easier. Thus, with an insulin pump, there is no need for daily injections, as this device allows intensive insulin therapy in combination with glucose monitoring and carbohydrate counting.

do not panic

When choosing a future profession, doctors pay attention to the fact that, from a legal point of view, a person on insulin therapy, if there is a high risk of insulin deficiency, is not allowed to start services with weapons and activities that can cause harm to third parties. Specifically: you can't be a pilot, a bus driver, a train driver, a policeman, a soldier. However, as the German Diabetes Society emphasizes, things are changing now. Previously, for example, it was not even allowed to drive a truck. Now, these restrictions have been lifted, which means that the truck driving profession has become available to people with diabetes.

Diabetes cannot be cured, but you can learn to live with the disease. Once a child is diagnosed with this condition, it is important to educate him and return him to a normal lifestyle. Older children are taught to give their own insulin injections. Of course, a high level of self-control is required. As long as the parents are in control of the situation, difficulties do not arise. Problems arise during adolescence. A teenager's head is busy with completely different things, and he may lose his vigilance.

However, when asked how often diabetes causes death, a diabetic expert from Leipzig reassured: "In Saxony, the database and registration are very well developed. In the last 15 years, I can only say about two deaths. The first was diagnosed too late. The second, the young man did not quite comply with the doctor's prescription. What many parents fear - the real danger to life from a diabetic coma - has never existed in my practice, "said the German doctor.