Question from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada:

I have a godchild who has had a ‘sugar intolerance’ for years; she is now 15. Although she avoids foods with added sugars, it is not unusual for her to show a blood sugar of (Canadian figures) 10.0 before eating. This is after eating nothing but toast and diet pop 12 hours previous. I did an average of blood sugars she did on a blood monitor we lent to her and they averaged 10>mml (20 tests). They would be pre-meal, post-meal and fasting sugars. She is incredibly irritable at times, takes weak spells if she is exercising abuntantly and requires a juice pack before she feels well, has a lot of headaches, tired all the time, sometimes her feet turn an ungodly shade and are like lumps of ice; just plain miserable. I have been hearing about MODY. What is it? Don’t you think this child has a problem? I have a type 1 (now on the pump) whose sugars are often better than my godchild’s. Her mom has approached doctors, but she isn’t getting much response. I told her she should request some fasting blood sugars, plus a HA1c, and a referral to an endocrinologist. Things seem to be getting worse and her mom, who was gestational and suffers a lot of the same symptoms, is at wits end.