October 16, 2007
Other Illnesses
Question from Ireland:
My son has had type 1 diabetes for seven years. He also has asthma. He is on an inhaler (500) plus Singulair tablets, but has an irritating cough which is consistent. He is seeing a consultant with regard to this cough, however, I don’t see any improvement. Have you any views on the way forward? Is it common for diabetics to have asthma? I am worried about his long-term prognosis. His levels are fairly good at the moment, however, he was on steroids in July and his A1c was 9.
Answer:
Asthma is an autoimmune disease and can be associated with type 1 diabetes, which is an autoimmune disease as well. That said, exogenous steroids do increase blood sugar levels in all diabetics and it’s not easy to handle correctly the poor metabolic control even when insulin doses are generally increased. Try to do the best to minimize the worst effect by increasing your son’s insulin dosages with extra shots of a few units of fast-acting insulin intermittently over the day, when needed, in order to keep the A1c values below 7.5% on the average, if feasible.
MS
