Symptoms of Type 1 Diabetes in Children

Type 1 diabetes is a lifelong disease characterised by high levels of glucose/sugar in the blood. Unfortunately, children too are falling prey to this disease, influencing their fitness drastically. Here is a list of symptoms that are indicative of type 1 diabetes.

[Read: Causes of Juvenile Diabetes]

Increase in Thirst and Frequent Urination: You may find that your child is feeling thirsty more often and this is due to hyperglycemia. The kidneys act as a filter and absorb the glucose that is present in the blood, only to recycle it for the body's use. The kidneys cannot absorb all of the sugar, instead when blood glucose is high, excess sugar gets deposited into the urine and the body tries to flush it out of the system by producing more urine. This causes bouts of dehydration and thirst.

Increased Hunger: There is a chance that your child will feel hungry more often because without enough insulin that moves sugar into your child’s cells, muscles and organs will be deprived of energy. So, they end up throwing hunger tantrums, thereby eating more.

Weight Loss: You may also notice that your child is losing weight rather suddenly inspite of eating at regular intervals to subdue the hunger. You must understand that weight loss is an unexplained symptom found in children affected with type 1 diabetes and is most often the first symptom that you will notice.

Blurred Vision:  This can be one of the early symptoms of type1 diabetes wherein the retinal nerve of the eyes degenerate slowly because eyes fail to get adequate nutrient supply. Also, because of the thickening of the walls of veins along with an overall increase in viscosity of the blood, the blood vessels of the eyes degenerate.

Irritability or Unusual Behaviour: When there is a fluctuation in blood sugar, which occurs because the body is continually fighting to regulate its blood sugar levels, your child may feel happy and irritable at the same time. This may also affect the central nervous system and with changes in diabetic medication, mood swings may set in.  

[Read: How to Control Blood Sugar Levels in Type 1 Diabetes]

It is important that parents take their children to the doctor if they notice any of the above mentioned symptoms, as diabetes can be very taxing on one’s health. So, attending the situation in hand and curing it at the earliest is very important.

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