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August 3, 2006

Diagnosis and Symptoms

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Question from Dunn Loring, Virginia, USA:

Approximately a month ago, I took my son in for his five year old check-up.The routine urine sample indicated a large amount of ketones. A fingerstick test was done which indicated a blood sugar of 250 mg/dl [13.9 mmol/L]. An appointment was scheduled with an endocrinologist the following day.

A fasting blood sugar test was done the following morning and was 91 mg/dl [5.1 mmol/L]. The A1c was 6.6%. A week later, we were told the tests also indicated one positive marker and one negative marker for diabetes.

The ketostix at home continue to indicate a negative result. The periodic fasting stick tests in June were all below 100 mg/dl [5.6 mmol/L]. We noticed more frequent urination over the past week and did a fasting stick test and got a result of 121 mg/dl [6.7 mmol/L] with a test two days later indicating 104 mg/dl [5.8 mmol/L].

Could this be something else or is it a matter of time before my son develops type 1 diabetes? If so, is there anything we can do to “hold off” the onset? He is very active, does not eat a lot of “junk food” and is in the 25th percentile for weight, so lifestyle is not our issue.

Answer:

From: DTeam Staff

It sounds likely that this is a very early phase of diabetes, particularly if the antibody markers were positive. There are some experimental protocols in some centers around the world, but none are ready for clinical use at the moment since short term and long term benefits remain unknown. Interfering with the immune system is a tricky business and one has to be sure that there are no unexpected or serious side effects such as overwhelming infections and cancers. Some in early phases of diabetes respond to restricting sugar/carbohydrate intake, so I would urge frequent blood glucose monitoring, ketone testing if glucose levels are high and close contact with your pediatric endocrinologist. It sounds like they are giving you reasonable advice from what you have reported.

SB