TALKING TYPE 1

Raising a child with diabetes can be challenging... Here are a few tips on caring for their well-being

- Words by SILKE COLQUHOUN

When your child is diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, it changes your life as a parent too.

A chocolate bar, takeout meal or missed breakfast can send their blood sugar into dangerous highs or lows, so you – and your child, if they're old enough – have to be extra careful in balancing their food and medication.

Type 1 diabetes isn't related to eating or drinking too much sugar, says Dr David Segal in a paediatric diabetes 'survival guide' co-written with biokineticist Beverley Davey.

"It's okay to feel angry, sad, resistant and even guilty. Most importantly, one needs to live with diabetes, not fight it. A positive outlook and active management bring about good long-term results."

SYMPTOMS OF DIABETES TO LOOK OUT FOR

Watch out if your child is extremely thirsty and peeing more than usual. Other signs of diabetes include being very hungry (yet still losing weight), being irritable, easily tired, having blurred vision or flu-like symptoms.

Seek urgent help if your child's breath smells 'fruity', as this could be linked to a life-threatening complication called diabetic ketoacidosis (diabetic coma). Without medical intervention, symptoms typically progress from nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain and/or fruity breath, to drowsiness and confusion, and eventually coma.

IS IT AN EMERGENCY?

In someone who has diabetes, blood sugar levels that are either too high or too low can risk diabetic coma, which could be fatal.