
May 14, 2002
Diagnosis and Symptoms
Question from San Antonio, Texas, USA:
My 14 year old daughter weighs 275 pounds, her dad is on insulin, and she had a blood sugar of 188 mg/dl [10.4 mmol/L] with sugar in her urine when I took her to the doctor. What does all this mean? Should I be concerned? How high does her sugar have to be?
Answer:
You need to get to your daughter back to the doctor, or preferably to a pediatric diabetes team ASAP. Her blood glucose level, while not diagnostic of diabetes, can be classified as impaired glucose tolerance which can be a precursor to diabetes. Treatment at this stage involves weight loss and controlling the blood glucoses. Be sure she gets seen again soon.
LSF
[Editor’s comment: See the Classification and Diagnosis of Diabetes, What You Need to Know about Type 2 Diabetes in Children, and Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP).
SS]