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PrintYour Answers to Diabetes
Lynn Figg
Patients with diabetes, along with their families, often have very important questions throughout the course of their disease.
Upon initial diagnosis, patients and families are often stunned by the diagnosis and sometimes don’t know what to ask or where to begin. As health professionals, we also at times forget that if we have a child who is diagnosed at a very young age, we are educating not only the child, but the parents.
If you’re a parent with a child coping with diabetes, these are some questions that might be on your mind.
Question: “Did we cause her to have diabetes because we allowed her to eat a lot of sweets?”
There is no evidence that eating sweets caused your Type I (insulin-dependent) diabetes to develop. There is nothing that you did or didn’t do that caused this to occur. This condition occurs when the pancreas doesn’t make enough insulin.
Question: “I’ve heard that sometimes children don’t always have to take insulin after this diagnosis.”
According to all of our medical information at this time, children who have Type I diabetes will need to take insulin for the rest of their lives. Occasionally, we see a child who may go through a period of time when he or she may need less insulin to control his or her blood sugars. This may seem as though the diabetes is going away, but it is not. This is called the ‘honeymoon period,’ and it can last from two weeks to two years.
Question: “There are other children in my son’s school who have Type I diabetes, and they don’t have to take an insulin injection at lunch. Why do we have to?”
Diabetes management is difficult under the best conditions, and you may get mixed messages from friends, families and even health care professionals. Not everyone approaches diabetes care the same way. We work with pediatric endocrinologists who specialize in the management of diabetes in children. The goal of our health care team is to educate you, the parent, as well as your child on the most current evidence-based care and then individualize that care for you and your child. We are your partners in the endeavor.
Question: “Can my child have birthday cake, eat ice cream, have pizza, or does she have to be on a strict diet?”
Food recommendations for people with diabetes have changed greatly over the years. It has gone from avoidance of sugar to allowing it within the context of a healthy meal plan utilizing the food-guide pyramid as a basis for healthy eating. So, yes, your child can have these foods. Your doctor will help you learn how to incorporate them into healthy eating habits.
Question: ‘‘What is a HbA1c, and why is it important?”
A hemoglobin A1c is a measure of overall glucose control over a 90 day period of time. It is not altered by anything that the person does or eats on the day the test is drawn. This number reflects how often the blood sugars have been high over the past three months. The ranges vary for children of different ages, and the goal is to keep your child within the recommended range for his age.
Question: “Will my other children get diabetes, too?”
There is a genetic predisposition occurring in families that is greater than in the general population. Although a brother or sister of a child with diabetes has about a 5% chance of also developing diabetes, the cause is not entirely due to heredity. There are also self-allergy (autoimmune) factors and environmental factors in the form of viruses or chemicals.
Question: "I possibly want my child on an insulin pump, so he can forget about his diabetes. Will the pump deliver insulin just like his pancreas would?"
An insulin pump is a great tool for normalizing blood sugar levels. It offers 24 hour/day insulin dosing rather than multiple daily insulin injections. People with insulin pumps can adjust insulin delivery in response to changes in schedules, exercise and meal times instead of planning their daily life around times of insulin injections and peak actions of the insulin.
Pump management involves a high level of diabetes care, not less involvement. There is not a best time or age to begin using a pump. Both the child and the parents must be ready and able to commit to the time needed to develop this new knowledge and skill set.
Question: “Will my child be able to play sports like normal children do?”
You have a normal child. You have a healthy child who happens to have diabetes. This can be controlled by balancing food intake, exercise, stress management and insulin. Young people from our clinic participate in almost every sport including baseball, soccer, football, track, wrestling, tennis, basketball, cross-country, swimming and biking. There are many former and present professional athletes who have diabetes.
