November 23, 2002
Diagnosis and Symptoms
Question from Cataldo, Idaho, USA:
My nine year old son has been showing symptoms of diabetes. Ever since he was small, he was urinating frequently and was constantly thirsty. He is still showing these symptoms, but now it seems worse. He has highs and lows, constantly urinating, constantly thirsty, complaining about his stomach hurting and talking about his vision and eyes. He is very active and fit. He does all sorts of sports and has never had a problem with anything else. Since he is so active, I thought that his constantly being hungry was just high metabolism.
I have been very concerned lately, so I had a friend (whose son has diabetes) take his blood sugar, and it was normal, but she said if he keeps showing these symptoms to take him to the doctor. I just need more advice.
Answer:
The duration of symptoms makes diabetes unlikely. Habit drinking leads to excessive urination too. The other thing to consider is urine infection. A short trip to the family doctor would seem like a good idea.
KJR
