
December 19, 2000
Honeymoon
Question from a physician in Tampa, Florida, USA:
My 22 month old son has been on insulin for three weeks. He seems to be going into a remission (honeymoon). Are there any cases of total and permanent remission?
Answer:
Children with neonatal diabetes do frequently remit and sometimes even are cured, but 22 months is really too old for that. Frequently, we see a need for very little insulin for quite a while until the pancreas is destroyed. You are in Tampa right where Shah and Malone showed that glucose control helped preserve pancreas cells. I don’t take patients off insulin for that reason. I use the help of the pancreas to keep glucose in good control to help preserve the pancreas.
LD