JUVENILE DIABETES
Diabetes among adults has long been common on the reservations, however, diabetes also occurs in young children. Like adult diabetes, juvenile diabetes results from the body’s inability to produce insulin, or enough insulin. Insulin is a hormone produced in the pancreas which is needed to process food efficiently. Lack of enough insulin results in high levels of glucose (blood sugar) that stays in the blood, rather than entering the body cells. Therefore, the body in unable to absorb sugar normally. This results in high glucose levels in the blood and urine. Additional insulin is usually necessary as soon as the condition is identified. Juvenile diabetes occurs suddenly in children who were previously healthy. Click here for a story for children based on the real life stories of children with juvenile diabetes. If you like, feel free to print it out during the workshop to take back and read to your class.
Signs of juvenile diabetes include:
- Frequent urination
- Increased thirst
- Unsatisified hunger
- Weight loss
- Slow physical growth
- Irritability
- Dizziness
- Coma
If you notice several of these signs in a child, particularly if it is a rapid change within the past few weeks or less, you should suspect diabetes. Any child in a coma from which he or she cannot be awakened is a medical emergency and should receive a doctor's care immediately.
