Juvenile Diabetes Symptoms

Juvenile diabetes can be fatal, if not treated properly. The lack of insulin produced by the body will lead to increased concentrations of glucose in the bloodstream. Eventually, the pollution in the blood will start to overwhelm the body's major organs causing them to shut down. Fortunately, juvenile diabetes symptoms are not hard to identify. If your child begins to experience any of these signs, you should ask your doctor to run a test for diabetes. The symptoms may be a false alarm, but it's better to be safe than sorry.

Typical Juvenile Diabetes warning Signs

1. A noticeable increase in the need to urinate - as a person with juvenile diabetes goes through his day, his blood glucose levels are continually rising. When the blood reach a saturation point, it needs to get rid of some of the glucose. The way it does this is through urination. Assuming that the child is eating normally and not drinking an excessive amount of liquids, this is a sign that his body is unable to process the glucose in his blood stream properly - so it needs to get rid of the glucose. If, however, your child is drinking excess amounts of water, the frequent urination may simply be a result of that.

2. Increased thirst - this symptoms is very much related to the need to urinate. The body needs water to live. When the body needs water, thirst is the mechanism that the body uses to force you to drink. If your child is constantly urinating because of his body's need to get rid of excess glucose, it is inevitably going to become dehydrated. As this happens, the signal is sent to cause a thirst reaction so the child will drink.

3. Extreme weight loss - when you eat, your food is eventually broken down into food that the cells of the body can use directly - glucose. This is why glucose eventually winds up in the bloodstream - so the cell can feed from it. But what happens if, due to diabetes, the body is unable to use this food? Simple. The glucose is jettisoned out with the urine. To survive, the body then has to look for food in other places - the muscles and fats of the body. This is why weight loss occurs. The body is, in essence, cannibalizing itself in an attempt to survive.

4. Constant need to eat - since your child's body is unable to use the food that he eats, he remains in a near constant state of hunger. Forcing him to eat more food, even as he loses weight and remains famished.

5. Feeling Tired - A child with diabetes can take in nourishment in the form of food, but his body can't use. Without food, the cells can't be energized. Therefore, the child will feel lifeless, listless, and tired.

Even though juvenile diabetes currently has no cure, it is very much treatable. That's why when juvenile diabetes symptoms show up in your child, you want to determine as quickly as possible if he will need treatment - and if so, begin that treatment as soon as possible.

By: Alice Saracho

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