Symptoms of Type 1 Diabetes in Adults and Children (Kids)

Type 1 diabetes can affect adults and children. The symptoms may usually develop over a brief period of time. In kids, the symptoms are quite vogue, and this may lead to a missed diagnosis. What’s else – keep reading!

With type-1 diabetes, the mechanism of the body (pancreas) to make insulin hormone is no longer to work properly. Insulin is responsible to to process glucose from foods.

When the body is poor in producing insulin, the amount of sugar in the circulation increases and the body is likely to have literally starving. As a result, you are easier to have fatigue since you don’t get adequate energy that your body needs!

Doctors and experts still don’t know the answer with certainty for the exact cause of type-1 diabetes. 

In many patients with this disease, their body immune system goes awry, affecting the mechanism of the body in producing insulin. It’s also thought that the condition is a consequence from the combination of genetic trait and infection.

Sugar (glucose) in the body must be converted into a simple substance before you can use it for energy. You can get glucose from your diet, though the body also has some glucose in the liver.

After digested, glucose goes into the bloodstream. With the help of insulin, it can enter into the cells of your body – while some are stored as glycogen in the liver.

Glycogen is converted back into glucose when your body requires energy in certain situations. For examples when you eat less due to sick or have not eaten in a while – the stock of glycogen stored in the liver will be released.

Hormone insulin is made by the pancreas (an organ located below and behind your stomach). The following are some crucial points for the role of insulin:

1. The insulin from pancreas will be released into the bloodstream.
2. Then this hormone circulates in the bloodstream to allow sugar enter into many cells of the body.
3. As a result, there will be less sugar in the bloodstream. Therefore if there is lack of insulin, there will be greater chance blood sugar level to increase.
4. We can say in general, the fluctuation of insulin released into bloodstream is equivalent to the amount of sugar in the bloodstream.

In people with type-1 diabetes, the body is very poor or not able to provide enough insulin to process glucose in the bloodstream. So they often need insulin therapy.

Although the exact cause of the disease is not known yet, there are some factors or conditions that have been confirmed can increase the risk of developing type-1 diabetes.

You are at higher risk of the disease if you (according to Mayo Clinic):

1. Have a family history of diabetes. If you have a sibling, father, or mother with type-1 diabetes, you are at higher risk of developing one as well.
2. Genetics! Experts believe that there are some certain genes that may be linked to the increased risk of type-1 diabetes.

Other possible conditions that may contribute in increasing the risk of the disease include:

1. Geographic issue! People who live in far away from the equator may have increased risk of the disease. Some statistics record that type-1 diabetes is more common in Sardinia and Finland. On the other hand, people who live in Venezuela have 400 times less likely to have the disease if compared to people who live in Sardinia and Finland.
2. The exposure from virus. Cytomegalovirus, Epstein-Barr, or mumps virus may contribute to trigger the destruction of islet cells (cells in the pancreas that have crucial function to help produce insulin).
3. Dietary factors might have a role too. For example, excessive consumption of water containing nitrates.
4. Born with jaundice.
5. Infection affecting respiratory system after birth.
6. Children born from mother with preeclampsia during pregnancy.
7. Kids born from young mother (younger than the age of 25 at giving birth).

Additionally, the disease is more common in the age of 20s or younger. However, it can occur at any age!

How about the gender? The disease occurs almost equally in women and men. But the statistics show that the disease is less common in blacks than in whites.

The classic signs and symptoms are often subtle, but sometimes they can get worse and become severe (particularly if left untreated). 

In adults, the common symptoms that occur may include (according to WebMD):

1. Dehydration (increased thirst), dry mouth, and frequent urination! The more accumulation of sugar in the bloodstream can lead to an increase in urination. This high intensity of urination is purposed to remove excessively sugar from the bloodstream, but it can also cause dehydration and you’re likely to feel thirsty frequently.
2. More likely to feel hunger, even a few hours after eating. This may come with fatigue.
3. Weight loss! More sugar wasted through urine means a loss of more calories. With dehydration, you’re likely to notice weight loss in your scales.
4. Frequent infections of vagina, urinary tract, or skin.
5. Problems related to the vision (blurred vision).
6. Nausea feeling, sometimes followed with vomiting.
7. Abdominal discomfort and pain.
8. Some patients may also experience breathing problems.

In children, some symptoms mentioned earlier may also occur. The symptoms usually develop over a period of weeks.

According to Mayo Clinic, the following are some common symptoms of type-1 diabetes in kids: