March 20, 2003
Diagnosis and Symptoms, Insulin Analogs
Question from Wildersville,Tennessee, USA:
My 10 year old son was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes a little over a year ago, and at the time of diagnosis, he had just began puberty. (He had one pubic hair, his penis was getting longer and thicker, and.he was also developing a light mustache.) He had also picked up weight/ His endocrinologist said that lots of times when a child goes through puberty there are lots of problems with blood sugar control, but in some cases after puberty has been completed, he has seen it diminish and not come back.
One doctor says my child has type 1 diabetes, another says he has type 2, and another says he’s in between. He takes Lantus and Humalog which is s working very well at the present time. Do you think his puberty has played a part with this? Do you think it is possible the diabetes will go away after puberty? Can a person take Lantus without any other medicine?
Answer:
If he really has diabetes then it will stay. As to type, if you aren’t minority and he isn’t very obese, it’s likely type�1, but his endocrinologist may want to do antibody and insulin reserve tests. Will it go away? No, not very likely ever until we cure diabetes.
I have a number of first-year-with-diabetes children on Lantus alone, so it’s not surprising.
LD
