Sugar does not strengthen you. Diabetes affects adults and children

“Your child has diabetes” – when this is diagnosed, it is a real shock for many people. How the child will function with the awareness of the disease depends on the condition of the family. The most important thing is to educate the whole family and impose high self-discipline on everyone (not only the child). A diabetic diet is healthy, and exercise hasn’t hurt anyone yet.

1. In Poland, 2,5 million people suffer from diabetes. There are up to 25 million sick people across Europe
2. Diabetes mellitus appears in younger and younger children, and problems with “handling” the disease start already in kindergarten
3. The functioning of a child with diabetes depends very much on the awareness of their relatives. Numerous associations help families. One of them is the Association for Children with Diabetes

– I am the mother of a seven-year-old Krzysia who suffers from type I diabetes – says Anna. – The whole family “hugged” to the Association for Children with Diabetes, operating in Warsaw. We use various benefits that this association offers: courses, trips, stays for families or children themselves, small treatments. This year we even attended a carnival ball for children with diabetes! – the boy’s mother explains.

Anna admits that thanks to the association, the whole family feels well educated and knows how to make the boy function efficiently on a daily basis. – We received an insulin pump in the hospital at ul. Banach in Warsaw – explains Anna. – You get it for four years, because that’s the warranty. We got it right after the diagnosis. I know from other mothers that, for example, waiting in the Children’s Memorial Health Institute is longer, and in other parts of Poland it is even less fun. We take great care of our child’s diet – grandmother prepares him meals balanced in terms of the glycemic index and brings him to school. There is another child with diabetes in Krzys ‘class – his parents got along in the school cafeteria and there the child gets five meals a day, but Krzys’ school food simply did not taste good. We did not have to worry about the lack of help in a critical situation for Krzys and his colleague – the teachers underwent special training, during which they learned how to react to problems.

You can live with diabetes

Genes and unhealthy diet contribute to its development. Diabetes in children is particularly unpleasant – a well-guided child functions normally, but it requires high self-discipline both from the toddler and from parents or teachers. The basis of treatment is diet – it should consist of unprocessed food, rich in protein, fiber and pectin, and should be low in carbohydrates and refined simple sugars (which are not clotting). The key is to keep your blood sugar under control. It should be below 90 mg% on an empty stomach, and between 1 and 2 mg% in 75-120 hours after consuming carbohydrates. Movement is obligatory – preferably outdoors.

They are already sick when pregnant

When a glucose tolerance disorder occurs for the first time during pregnancy, we are talking about gestational diabetes. It concerns from 3 to 5 percent. women expecting a baby and is the result of pregnancy affecting the woman’s body. In the second or third trimester, high levels of placental hormones, such as estriol and progesterone, increase tissue resistance to insulin levels. The result is an excessive amount of glucose circulating in the blood. To detect and treat diabetes early, all pregnant women between 24 and 28 weeks of gestation will undergo a glucose overload test. Treatment can only be with a proper diet. – Diabetes in pregnant women was very difficult for me – says Magda. – When I was pregnant, I worked in a large editorial office, I didn’t want to go on sick leave because I really wanted to go back to work after having a baby. I had to measure my sugar while sitting at my desk. I was very eager to sleep. I found a way to do this, quietly accepted by my co-workers. In an emergency, I simply went to the toilet, sat on the toilet bowl and slept for 15-20 minutes. Diabetes disappeared spontaneously after childbirth, thanks to the fact that I took great care of myself, I gave birth to a healthy, ungrown child. And it could have ended much worse. I was able to “treat” a toddler with a disease.

Diabetes mellitus in adolescence

This is type I diabetes (differently with type II diabetes – mainly adults, the so-called acquired diabetes), the so-called insulin-dependent, autoimmune, which cannot be prevented. Responsible for it is the sick pancreas – specifically – its damaged and inefficient cells responsible for the production of insulin – a hormone needed to convert food into energy necessary for the functioning of the body.

As Dagmara Staniszewska, president of the Foundation for Children with Diabetes says, the problems with this disease largely depend on the age of the child. The first shock is the most difficult – the incurable disease does not reach the children. How the toddler copes with the disease depends on the mental condition of the whole family. Then it quickly turns out that in kindergartens, due to gaps in the regulations concerning sick children, there is a lack of knowledge about who is to take care of this child. There are no nurses in the institutions, so if the toddler is independent and can prick himself, the matter is not that difficult, and the preschool teacher will help in reading the result and adjusting the diet. It is easier in schools – here, as a rule, there is already a full-time nurse who is obliged to look after a sick student and help. It is more difficult during class trips – you have to measure your child’s sugar while they are sleeping. Then, most often parents go with their children – explains Dagmara Staniszewska. And he adds: – Our children are well looked after by the state, until the age of 26 they are entitled to an insulin pump, only after graduation do they have to bear the full cost of the equipment to continue treatment.

Education and self-discipline

From the first diagnosis, a child or young person must learn to take care of himself / herself. The child should know how to eat, how to operate the insulin pump, know the relationship between the insulin taken and exercise and diet. In the case of young children and their families, education is very important – the whole family must be educated.

The literature may be helpful, We recommend the following items for people with diabetes:

1. Henryk Bieniok “Managing your own health or finally do something for your health” Publishing House of the University of Economics in Katowice
2. Jan Tatań «Diabetes. A new approach to diagnosis and treatment »published by Elsevier Urban & Partner.
3. Paula Heltzel “Diabetes”, published by Rebis.