Two months ago, my friend’s four year old child was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. He is taking 4 units of Mixtard in the morning and 2 units at nighttime, but his sugar started to go up and down and up so much that we reduced his insulin. However, during the day, are still only between 56 and 70 mg/dl [3.1 and 3.9 mmol/L] most of the time.

Will his sugar stay this way or will this be for a certain amount of time? What is the new medication instead of injections? What is the success of the transplant of cells?

Good diabetes control is extremely difficult in a four year old. One needs to keep track of the blood sugar levels and ensure the child has a regular diet with enough carbohydrate. Islet cell transplants are very much in the research phase, and it will be some time before this will be available for children, as will any other treatment types.

Your friend needs to keep working with her son’s diabetes team to keep the sugar control as steady as possible.

JS

[Editor’s comment: It sounds like your friend’s son has entered a honeymoon period during which he will require very little insulin. Unfortunately, there is no way to predict how long this will last.

Your friend might be helped by reading Sweet Kids: How to Balance Diabetes Control & Good Nutrition with Family Peace, by Betty Brackenridge and Richard Rubin. This book contains many suggestions for dealing with diabetes in a child this age.

SS]