July 3, 1999
Diagnosis and Symptoms
Question from Myrtle Point, Oregon, USA:
My daughter is almost three years old. Recently, after experiencing three hours of lethargy for no apparent reason, her doctor suggested I take her to the hospital (it was a Sunday) for a urinalysis and throat culture. The UA showed an elevation in glucose. They, then, drew blood and tested that. Her glucose level was 120. After asking me a series of questions, the Emergency Room doctor said that he believed my daughter was diabetic. In fact, he said he was 90% sure of it! She was then admitted to a bigger hospital for observation. They checked her glucose level every two hours throughout that night. It ranged from 81 – 115. They released her the next morning, stating that she was fine and didn’t show any sign of diabetes.
Should I be concerned? She is adopted (Korea) and I know nothing of her family history. I was told that she exhibits many symptoms that are commonly seen in diabetics (frequent urination, excessive thirst).
Answer:
Briefly the possibilities are the following:
Your child has renal glycosuria (sugar in the urine when the blood sugar is normal — usually not associated with any disorder in kidney function but can be caused by lead poisoning.)
Your child had a very transient elevation of blood sugar with stress and will not go on to develop diabetes.
Your child is in the very early stages of developing diabetes and can make enough insulin when she is not sick, but can’t make extra when she gets sick with a virus. I would suggest to check her urine for glucose occasionally over the next few months, especially if she gets sick again as that is when the blood sugar may first go up again, and may go up rapidly. Call your doctor if there is sugar in the urine. You might want to discuss with your doctor having your daughter tested for antibodies against insulin, islet cells, and a protein called GAD. These are markers that the pancreas is failing even before the blood sugar is high.
TGL
