
June 22, 2000
Diagnosis and Symptoms
Question from Kansas City, Missouri, USA:
I have an 8 year old son who has a lot of the symptoms of diabetes. His pediatrician drew his blood for a sugar level. My neighbor who has diabetes took a reading that was 170 on her meter. He is a healthy, very active child. What could cause such a high glucose and can that be normal?
Answer:
I would encourage you to review these results with your pediatrician. Your pediatrician has other testing available that may help to find out why your son had a blood sugar level of 170. Certainly, it is a real possibility that this represents diabetes — especially if indeed he is having some of the typical symptoms of diabetes including frequent thirst, hunger, urination and weight loss.
MSB