My 11 year old son shows some symptoms of diabetes (always hungry and thirsty, blurred vision and sore eyes, always tired and very lazy, has sores and grazes and impetigo that became infected and took six weeks along with two lots of antibiotics to heal). Now if he gets a sore or bitten by something they become infected and won’t heal. He is also overweight so I recently had him checked by our doctor who ordered a blood test for diabetes which was normal, but my son did not have to fast for the test.

I have been reading a lot about diabetes lately and was wondering if he should have another test. Am I overreacting? Diabetes is in my family history, but I’m not sure what type.

I really understand your concern regarding the risk of your son with a family history of diabetes. Type 2 diabetes has become an emerging new problem among overweight children. Regarding his glucose tolerance, I think it’s normal now, even though random blood sugar may be not enough to pinpoint a diagnosis. An intravenous glucose tolerance test might be in order if you wish to pursue his symptoms.

Nevertheless, as weight loss is the first approach in prevention of the disease, I’d skip any further tests and concentrate most of the efforts towards a program of reducing caloric intake and increasing physical exercise. Ask your son’s pediatrician for a referral to a pediatric endocrinologist.

MS

[Editor’s comment: Also, see What You Need to Know about Type 2 Diabetes in Children.

WWQ]