Causes And Treatment Of Infant Diabetes
The term infant diabetes often takes us by a bit by surprise. It's something we don't expect to see in small children, especially infants. One of the reasons for this is infant diabetes is usually not Type 2 diabetes, the diabetes usually seen in the adult population and which is very often brought about by lifestyle choices. Type 2 diabetes is also much more common than Type 1 diabetes, so when we think about diabetes at all, it's usually Type 2 we're thinking about.
While Type 2 diabetes is often a preventable disease, Type 1diabetes is not. It comes about due to immune system problems. Not only infants suffer from Type 1 diabetes, adults do as well. In fact about 10% of the cases of adult diabetes are Type 1. As far as small children are concerned, roughly 1 in every 500 infants is affected by Type 1 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes in infants on the other hand is quite rare.
Heredity is a major factor in diabetes, although just why this is the case isn't completely understood. One of the peculiar facts about infant diabetes is that if both parents have Type 2 diabetes, the infant is almost certain to develop the condition at some point in its lifetime. This may be similar to a child being more apt to become an alcoholic if both parents are. Yet since Type 2 diabetes is only found in an almost insignificant percentage of infants, and the disease is not contagious but most often caused by lifestyle choices, the near certainty of the child eventually suffering from the disease seems a bit strange.
One would suspect that if parental influence is all that strong, an infant would be certain to have Type 1 diabetes if both parents had it. This isn't the case however. If both parents have Type 1 diabetes, due to immune system deficiencies, the chance of their child having Type 1 is less than 20%.
Symptoms Of Infant Diabetes - Infant diabetes isn't always easily recognizable. It is most often detected by observing things that are happening that are somewhat out of the ordinary. Wet diapers are never a surprise; we expect to go though a few hundred diaper changes as the infant grows up. In fact, when the infant first returns from the hospital, mom and dad can expect to be changing diapers a half-dozen times a day. However, if as the infant grows older, it still seems to have wet diapers more than dry diapers, or appears to be urinating more often than what might be considered normal, it could be a sign of diabetes. Older babies will usually urinate in greater amounts, but less often, whereas an infant with diabetes may continue to urinate frequently. Diaper rash, though not usually linked directly to diabetes, could be another sign, as it is often caused by constantly wet diapers.
Abnormal eating or drinking habits can be yet another sign. Infant diabetics are often hungry all the time, thirsty all the time, or both. Unquenchable thirst is very often a sign of high blood sugar levels, and diabetes.
Possibly the most difficult thing to watch for is the effect diabetes may have on an infant's mood. Some babies are more fussy than others. Some stay fussy while growing up although nothing is wrong with them. Fussiness and irritability are a sigh however, and if a baby is fussing more than seems normal, it would be best to try and find out why.
Treatment - The treatment of diabetes in infants can be difficult. Even if the symptoms noted above are present, they can be the result of other disorders as well, and making a correct diagnosis is not always easy. If diabetes is indeed present, treatment can sometimes be complicated, as it's sometimes difficult to administer the small amounts of insulin the baby may need. As serious as infant diabetes is however, it is treatable, although it can be a long process, and the infant will need all the parental support it can get.