August 16, 2006
Diagnosis and Symptoms
Question from Cape Town, South Africa:
For the last two weeks, my 12 year old daughter has been extremely tired, nauseous, sore/runny tummy, low blood pressure. The fasting blood test done showed her tummy to be okay, but her sugar level to be high. Her menstrual cycle is two weeks apart and she bleeds very heavily. Her “iron stores” are okay, but the level in her blood is very low. She also had a glucose test that was high at the start, but the test came back normal. Could this be a gynecological problem? I am very worried as there is a lot of diabetes in my family.
Answer:
If she is overweight, then one must consider insulin resistance and polycystic ovary syndrome/metabolic syndrome. If not overweight, then there still could be some adrenal or ovary problems. I would suggest consultation with pediatric endocrinologist such as Drs. Francois Bonnicci or Areti Philotheaou (or members of their team) at Red Cross Hospital.
SB
