Type 1 diabetes is a different animal from Type 2 diabetes. Not only is Type 1 more common (but not exclusively found) in children, but it is also not usually associated with the typical genetic and lifestyle factors with which Type 2 is associated. Diabetes in childhood can be diagnosed at any time although we do often see it occurring seasonally perhaps a suggestion that it may well be precipitated by viral illnesses. Other precipitants that may trigger type 1 diabetes are trauma or life stressors but we are not entirely sure why or when type 1 diabetes will occur.
The initial days are often extremely stressful for families with the child often being left bewildered by all the attention, medication and often hospitalisation that ensues. Perhaps the best option at this stage is to find a health care provider you can trust and let them lead you through those initial days and weeks. The aim in the beginning is not to bombard people with information but rather just to keep the child out of danger. Adjusting diets and getting back into exercise and activity, having sleepovers, going on school camps and attending friends’ parties can all follow in due course.
Over the next few weeks, your doctor and diabetic educator will titrate the doses of insulin according to what the individual body needs. Thereafter you will begin to learn exactly how your body responds to various types of foods and exercise. Each person is different and there is certainly no one size that fits all. Ultimately, the goal is to keep the child healthy, allow him / her to lead a normal childhood interacting with peers and ensure mom and dad get some sleep from time to time!
In most people with type 1 diabetes, they will enter a “honeymoon period” where little or no insulin is required. This often occurs without any warning but can be a nice time to reconsolidate some messages that may have got lost in the initial stress of the diagnosis. Parents can take a breath again and children may not have to bother with all the testing and injecting. Again, we are not entirely sure what causes this honeymoon but latest research suggests it may have something to do with re-activation of the B-cells in the pancreas that produce insulin. The obvious question is can we delay this period or at least predict it – a hot topic amongst researchers at the moment.
As the honeymoon phase wears off, a child with type 1 diabetes will go back to the regular routine of testing and injecting in order to keep glucose levels within a narrow band of readings that will ensure he/she remain danger-free.