July 3, 2001
Complications
Question from Wales:
My 12 year old daughter has type 1 diabetes, and I am trying to find out whether growth development problems can occur with poorly controlled diabetes. If so, how poor would control have to be to cause problems?
Answer:
Poorly controlled diabetes causes poor growth. Children who have very high blood sugar don’t get enough energy to grow. They waste this energy in the urine as glucose. This can cause poor growth, weight gain, and delayed puberty. I would worry if her hemoglobin A1c were greater than 9.5% continuously.
In days of old (50 years ago) when we couldn’t control diabetes very well, children didn’t grow very well. Likewise in developing countries where insulin isn’t available, we see similar pictures. Take good care of her.
LD