August 25, 1999
Complications
Question from Olathe, Kansas, USA:
My two year old son was recently diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. Since then we have had relatively “good” control of it. This last month however he has started to trend high (growth spurt?), to complicate things he also has had an illness (with fever) that has raised his sugar levels consistently between 250 and 350 (no ketones however). He is over his illness now but has been in these ranges (250 – 350) have been going on for about a month.
My general question based on this is: Are complications due to high blood sugars in the short term, or do they have to be like that many years? Are we hurting his health by letting them run this high? I know a two year old has many factors that can make sugars more difficult to control. We have an excellent diabetes team helping us to gain better control, but I was just wondering if their is any research or actions by us to help reduce complication in toddlers. How early can complications show up in children?
Answer:
It is extremely rare for any complications to occur before several years after the onset of puberty. Viral illness may cause transient high blood sugars (and may require some extra insulin temporarily). If the blood sugars are still high one month later, however, his dose of insulin needs to be changed. You should expect frequent increases in insulin (and food needs) as he grows.
TGL
