Rare neonatal diabetes case detected at Cama

MUMBAI, JUNE 6: In a rare case, paediatricians at the government-run Cama and Albless Hospital discovered an extremely high percentage of blood sugar in a newborn girl. “Neonatal diabetes is a very rare condition. So when we found the newborn girl with a blood sugar of 920 per cent against the normal percentage of 80 to 90, we were shocked and surprised,” S R Daga, Associate Professor of Paediatrics remarked. Daga said the baby, weighing 1500 gm was delivered at home and was brought to the hospital four hours later. “A detailed examination of the urine revealed that it was a case of diabetes.

Initially, we administered glucose. Subsequently, we resorted to insulin therapy. The doses of insulin were adjusted according to blood glucose levels, which helped us to restore normalcy,” Daga said. He said this was the first such case in the history of Cama and Albless Hospital. The condition affects mainly gestational age babies, Daga observed, and is characterised by severe dehydration and hyperglycemia. Eveninternationally, the occurrence of neonatal diabetes is very rare. In Germany, it has been estimated at one in five lakh births, while in the UK, it is one in four lakh, Daga said.