When diabetes strikes early

According to the Indo-US Diabetes Coalition,childhood diabetes has seen a three-fold rise over the last 30 years. Experts say the lack of awareness among teachers,parents and the insensitivity of schoolchildren is matter of grave concern.

At 8,Mishkas parents taught her how to inject herself with insulin. That was the easy part. They could not teach her how to deal with classmates who singled her out or teachers who stopped her from playing with other children.

She came home crying every day, said her father. We had to speak to the teachers,teach them about diabetes and ensure them that it was not an infectious disease. They found it difficult to believe that playing or any kind of physical activity was good for Mishka.

Stigmatisation by friends and teachers makes childhood diabetes more difficult to manage.

Many of our children have faced stigma and have been branded as diseased by other children in school, said Dr Anoop Misra,Director of Internal Medicine,Fortis hospitals. Children can be ruthless when they do not understand things. Awareness among school authorities and sensitivity among children are necessary to deal with the epidemic.

Managing diabetes

Diabetes Type 1 or Type 2 can be managed only when the patient stops looking for answers that do not exist. Once the patients and family members accept that there is no cure,it is easy to focus on the management,said Dr Ambrish Mithal,endocrinologist,Apollo hospitals. Implementing a strict regimen is difficult in case of children. Childhood diabetes is a big social issue and awareness amongst parents and teachers is quintessential to keep the child from panicking, he said.

Since diabetes is considered a disease of the elderly,the diagnosis of childhood diabetes happens very late in most cases. Most symptoms like sudden weight loss,frequent urination,thirst etc are dismissed as non-specific ailments.

Most of the cases we get,come after the child faints or the sugar levels shoot up uncontrollably, he added.

Symptoms to watch out for

If your child is losing weight for no reason,suffers from abnormal lethargy,recurrent infections and frequent urination,consult a doctor immediately. Besides,watch out for increased thirst,increased hunger,weight loss and blurred vision.

Lifestyle

While there is no cure for diabetes,effective treatment and management exists. Besides sound medical advice,a combination of diet and exercise is the only way to manage diabetes successfully.

Diabetes can be effectively prevented by a healthy diet and regular physical activity. We now need to make these a part of our daily living patterns,through community education and facilitating government policies, said Dr Srinath Reddy,President,Public Health Foundation Of India,who is also a member of the Indo-US Diabetes Coalition Steering Committee.