Contents:
- Medical Video: Kids With Diabetes, Sicker Quicker
- Various complications of diabetes in children
- 1. Obstructed physical growth
- 2. Diabetic ketoacidosis
- 3. Hypoglycemia
Medical Video: Kids With Diabetes, Sicker Quicker
Just as in adults, children who have diabetes are also at high risk of complications if their blood sugar levels are not well controlled. Complications of diabetes in children can affect growth and development later. Therefore, it is important for parents to help monitor a child's blood sugar so that it is always within normal limits.
Various complications of diabetes in children
1. Obstructed physical growth
If diabetes in children is not well controlled and left for a long time, it will cause slow physical growth, drastic weight loss, and delay in puberty and bone growth. Impaired growth or poor weight gain is usually suspected as a symptom of hypothyroidism and celiac disease.
Routinely checking your child's height, weight, and body mass index is the best way to monitor his health. This is done to prevent complications of diabetes in children that can inhibit physical growth.
If when there is a deviation, the doctor can immediately evaluate and treat the condition of the child according to their needs.
2. Diabetic ketoacidosis
Diabetic ketoacidosis is a complication of diabetes in serious children. This condition occurs when the child's body produces too much blood acid (ketone) but is not accompanied by adequate insulin intake. Insulin is needed to absorb glucose into the body's cells to convert glucose into energy.
Diabetic ketoacidosis can be life threatening. The risk of death is higher if the child has severe diabetic ketoacidosis. Patients will need close monitoring by a pediatric endocrinologist or pediatric intensivists. Because diabetic ketoacidosis is very dangerous, prevention is very important. Prevention can be achieved by:
- Be aware of signs and symptoms of untreated diabetes
- Always detect symptoms early if your family is at risk
- Look for as much information about ketones
- Tell friends, family, and other caregivers about early diabetic ketoododis signs and symptoms
- Be aware that negligence of insulin administration due to psychological problems and lack of funds are the most common causes of diabetic ketoacodis in diabetic patients
- Spontaneous contact a doctor if high blood glucose levels, especially when there is ketonuria (ketone in urine) and ketonemia (excess ketones in the blood), and if accompanied by other diseases.
3. Hypoglycemia
Hypoglycemia is another matter of diabetes complications that needs to be watched out. Especially if the child has a history of hypoglycemic seizures. This condition occurs when blood glucose drops below the normal level suddenly. Now, this sudden drop in blood sugar can cause serious problems. One of them causes cognitive decline, aka the child's thinking process.
There are several reasons why children can experience hypoglycemia. the most common side effects are drugs used to treat diabetes. If the child uses insulin injections that exceed the dose or even consume too much diabetes medication, this ultimately triggers excessive release of insulin. As a result, your blood sugar levels drop too low, resulting in hypoglycemia.
But this condition can also occur even though the child has used insulin injections with the appropriate dosage. Usually this happens when your child eats too little, delays eating, or doesn't even eat at all during the day.
In addition, excessive physical activity without being balanced with the right food intake can also cause low blood sugar. In addition, boys and long-term diabetes tend to be more at risk of developing diabetes hypoglycemia complications.
Since hypoglycemia is a serious complication of diabetes, it is important for parents to be aware of symptoms. In general, the symptoms of hypoglycemia are categorized according to their severity. Mild hypoglycemia is associated with mild adrenergic or cholinergic symptoms (sweating, pallor, heart palpitations, and trembling). Your child may also experience mild symptoms of neuroglycopenia (headaches and behavior changes).
