June 11, 2008
Other
Question from South Yorkshire, United Kingdom:
My two and a half-year-old son has been really tired a lot these last few weeks. I took him to see the health visitor who measured and weighed him. He has lost 1.5 pounds and only grown half a centimeter. He took a sudden drop on his centile line (growth chart) so he advised me to get my son’s urine checked for glucose.
Having had that done this morning, the nurse told me that the dipstick outer edges had changed colour, but not the entire dipstick. She suggested that he be rechecked in a month.
My son is undergoing surgery in two weeks and I don’t want him to be vulnerable under anaesthesia. Do you think it is anything to worry about? Should I push for further testing or let the operation go ahead and just do the re-check in a month?
Answer:
Urine checking to screen for diabetes mellitus is “okay,” but not great. You did not describe any more “classic” symptoms of diabetes mellitus such as notable increased urination and thirst. Very typically in a child of this age group, unfortunately, diabetes symptoms are usually marked and the child is ill. So, I’d wager that your child does not have diabetes. Does he have risk factors, such as a family member with type 1 diabetes? Why is he having an operation? Could THAT condition be leading to his fatigue and weight loss? I would have your health provider re-check his blood and urine a week or so before the scheduled operation (or sooner if he has more obvious symptoms) in order to reassure everybody.
DS
