Since more than 1/3 of cases of diabetes occur in people over 65, it is sometimes referred to as age-related diseases.

At the same time, about 208,000 children and adolescents in the United States suffer from diabetes, and this number is increasing year by year.

The situation is no better in other developed countries of the world.

Children and adolescents often have type 1 diabetes, that is, insulin-dependent diabetes. A 2009 report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that type 1 diabetes affects an average of 193 children per 100,000, and type 2 diabetes has a total of 24 children per 100,000.

This year, the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) reported that over the past decade the prevalence of diabetes mellitus of both types among American children and adolescents has increased significantly, which may be due not only to lifestyle and nutrition. The study found that in America, the incidence of type 1 diabetes in children younger than 9 years from 2001 to 2009 increased by 21%, and the incidence of type 2 diabetes in children and adolescents 10-19 years over the same period increased by 30.5%.

"The increase in the incidence reported here is very worrying. Because thousands of young people will soon enter their adult years with a long-term severe chronic illness that is difficult to treat, and which is associated with a risk of serious complications already in reproductive age, and this is the risk of diabetes in future generations, "the scientists note..

Diabetes in children: what to look for.

Type 1 diabetes in children, formerly called juvenile diabetes, occurs when the pancreas is unable to produce an adequate amount of the hormone insulin. Children with this condition will need lifelong insulin administration and daily monitoring of glucose levels; also mandatory changes in diet.

Diabetes mellitus type 2, common among adults, but least likely in children, occurs when insulin production is insufficient or the sensitivity of cells to this hormone insulin resistance. As a result, the blood glucose level rises. The condition can be controlled by diet changes, physical exercises and body weight normalization. Some patients need special sugar-reducing drugs (such as metformin) or insulin injections.

The most common symptoms of type 1 and type 2 diabetes in children and adolescents:.

• Thirst and dry mouth.

• Abundant discharge of urine.

• Fatigue.

•Weight loss.

In some children, diabetes causes increased hunger and visual impairment, and girls with type 1 diabetes can develop frequent fungal infections.

American experts write that the symptoms of type 1 diabetes in children develop usually quickly, within a few weeks. Symptoms of type 2 diabetes develop gradually, barely noticeable. Parents should take the child to a pediatrician if they notice the signs listed above.

Despite the epidemic of children's diabetes in America, experts note very low awareness of parents about the symptoms of this disease.

In Britain, only 14% of parents can notice the main symptoms of diabetes in a child.

According to a survey conducted in 2012 in the UK by the Diabetes UK Foundation, only 9% of parents are able to identify the four main symptoms of diabetes in a child. A more recent study showed that such parents were 14%, which can also be called a shamefully low rate.

According to Barbara Young, chairman of Diabetes UK, this is too far from a good result: "In very, very many cases, type 1 diabetes is not diagnosed in a child until the child is seriously ill, and in some tragic cases the finale was fatal ".

Young is not mistaken. Children who were not diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in time, and in rare cases with type 2 diabetes, can enter the diabetic ketoacidotic coma (DKA) and die. DKA is the main cause of death in children with type 1 diabetes.

If the body is experiencing a serious insulin deficiency, it is not able to use glucose to generate energy. As a result, the body begins to split its own tissues to produce calories, and this leads to the accumulation of toxic decomposition products - ketone bodies. With the accumulation of a critical amount of these substances, a diabetic ketoacidotic coma may develop.

If the diabetes is detected in time and properly treated, then this condition is easily preventable. Unfortunately, due to ignorance, this does not always happen.

Doctors do not cope with early diagnosis of diabetes in children.

As studies show, not only parents can be blind when it comes to diabetes in children. This year, British scientists warned that many local doctors also do not pay attention to the signs of diabetes in children, which puts the life and health of young patients at risk.

In a study published in the journal Archives of Disease in Childhood, the researchers analyzed a group of 261 children aged 8 months to 16 years who had been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes mellitus. Symptoms of the disease initially in all cases, as they say, were evident. But, as it turned out, despite periodic medical examinations, patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus for children under 2 years in 80% of cases were diagnosed only when he was hospitalized with a ketoacidotic coma.

Co-author Dr. Kemi Lokulo-Sodipe (Kemi Lokulo-Sodipe) from the Children's Hospital of Southampton writes in the comments: "Children with obvious symptoms of diabetes many times contact with health workers, but they are diagnosed only after the development of DKA - it causes fears. As we know, early diagnosis of type 1 diabetes is an important condition for effective disease control and prevention of complications ".

A 2008 study, published in the journal Pediatric Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, found that among the 335 children and adolescents under the age of 17 with type 1 diabetes, the initial diagnosis was incorrect in more than 16% of cases.

This study showed that among the 54 incorrect diagnoses, the findings of the doctors were as follows:.

• Upper respiratory tract infections (46.3%).

• Candidiasis infection (16.6%).

• Gastroenteritis (16.6%).

• Urinary tract infection (11.1%).

• Stomatitis (11.1%).

• Appendicitis (3.7%) Moreover, the scientists proved that incorrect diagnoses of doctors led to deferment of treatment and more frequent development of diabetic ketoacidotic coma.

Although children and adolescents with diabetes can have the 4 symptoms listed above, Young notes that "having all four symptoms in one child is more an exception than a rule". According to her, usually a child has 1-2 of them. In some cases, there may not be symptoms at all.

Scientists say that an alarming bell for parents should be a sudden thirst in the child. And since diabetes in children is very rare, doctors usually write off thirst and other symptoms for something else, more common.

The rule of four "T".

The question arises: if doctors do not always determine the disease, what can parents do to timely diagnose a child's diabetes?.

"On the scale of the whole people, it is necessary to realize that diabetes is a common disease, and it is increasingly common. It can be found in the youngest child, and this disease should be placed at the very top of the list, when you are looking for the causes of thirst or abundant urine in the baby. Especially if you are also watching weight loss and fatigue, "- says Dr. Loculo-Sodipe.

In 2012, Diabetes UK launched the "Four-T" campaign, which aims to raise awareness of the British about the symptoms of diabetes in children. Campaigns like this have already shown a high success rate in other countries, including Australia, where the frequency of diagnosis of type 1 diabetes after admission to DKA decreased by 64%.

The rule of four "T" is as follows:.

Toilet: frequent visits to the toilet, too heavy diapers and wet bed, although earlier this for the child was not.

Thirsty: the child drinks more fluids than before; complains of dry mouth.

Thinner: unexplained weight loss; appetite may be elevated.

Tired: the child gets tired faster than before.

The organizers of the campaign say that in the presence of all four symptoms, parents should immediately show the child to the pediatrician and insist on conducting tests for type 1 diabetes mellitus. They are very simple, and include a blood test (from the finger) and urinalysis.

In the United States of America, November was declared the Month of awareness of diabetes, so in the near future one should expect the appearance of other interesting publications on this topic.

medbe. en.