
June 25, 2003
Diagnosis and Symptoms
Question from Grayslake, Illinois, USA:
My daughter was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the age of four, and from the time she was an infant until she was two years old, she would have sopping wet diapers all the time, loved to drink and had horrible yeast infections. Could these symptoms have been warning signs that she could have had diabetes then? My daughter’s endocrinologist says no, but displaying these symptoms, especially the constant yeast infections seems to indicate to me that a problem could have existed back then.
Answer:
I agree with your daughter’s endocrinologist. Type 1 in young children seems to be an aggressive autoimmune disease which causes lots of destruction of the pancreas, very quickly. It is not likely she could have had symptoms of diabetes for years.
LD