April 22, 2003
Diagnosis and Symptoms
Question from Sheffield, United Kingdom:
My 10 year old son was diagnosed with diabetes three months ago, and I suspected diabetes when he had polyuria and polydipsia. His random blood sugar was 26.5 mmol/L [477 mg/dl], but he had no urine ketones, and his hemoglobin A1c was 9.5%. The diabetes team did not give me the results of the islet cell antibodies test He was tested for thyroid antibodies which were negative. His diabetes is well controlled now on twice daily Insultard [NPH]. My son is slightly overweight, but we have no family history of diabetes at all. Can you tell me what type of diabetes my son has? Will that affect his management? Which type has a better prognosis?
Answer:
Even without more information, l can tell you that this is type 1 diabetes (99% certain), and your son is in the honeymoon period. It is rather academic but the prognosis is probably not very different for type 1 or type 2 diabetes at this age.
KJR
