My son had a urine test which showed glucose 3 and ketones 3. The next day, both were gone. He showed glucose again one week later, for one day, and this again cleared on its own. His pediatrician is advising us to start insulin. Is this necessary?

It’s time to go see a pediatric diabetes specialist, i.e., Professor Areti Philotheou or Professor Francois Bonnicci, both at the Red Cross Hospital. You probably also should learn to do fingerstick blood glucose testing and get a series of blood glucose profiles, for example, before and one hour after breakfast, before and one hour after lunch, before and one hour after dinner. If you do this for three or four days, then you will know if the blood sugar levels are normal or not and how often. This will be enormously helpful to decide whether or not insulin is needed. Early diabetes can certainly show up in this fashion, but the blood glucose levels should be the guide to treatment.

SB