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Archive for the ‘Diabetes’ Category

Childhood Obesity

Monday, April 23rd, 2012

Childhood Obesity

Being overweight is stressful enough, but if you’re a child or teenager, it’s even harder to deal with and be sucessful in loosing weight. Children and teenagers who are overweight or obese are frequently targets for other children and teens to be made fun of and bullied because of their weight. As a result, children may become more isolated or “outcasted” from their peers and suffer from anxiety or depression.

Many children who are overweight in their childhood will become overweight and obese as adults. Obesity increases the chance of developing other heath problems such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and cardiovascualr disease.  Parents need to be role models for their children and teens and set good examples of making healthy and nutritious food choices, and making exercise and being more active part of their everyday lifestyle. It all starts with healthy examples at home that your children can see every day, and become an active participant every day.

We can also help you in promoting a healthy lifestyle for your children and teens. We encourage all children and teens to have annual physical exams. At this time we will do height and weight measurements and calculate your child’s body mass index or BMI. BMI is a good way to assess whether an individual is overweight. BMI takes into account not just your weight, but also your height to indicate body fat. However, BMI is not a measure of percentage of body fat.  A healthy BMI should be over 18 and under 25. BMI’s for children will differ from those for adults. A healthy BMI for a child will be lower than an adult’s BMI. After your child’s BMI is determined, it will be plotted on your child’s growth chart. We will be able to review the percentile and detrmine if your child is at a healthy weight or is overweight.  We will also check your child’s blood pressure at their physical. These are important measurements in your child’s health.

The US Department of Health and Human Services has recently issued new guidelines regarding children and cholesterol screening. These guidelines suggest that all children between the ages of 9 to 11 years have their cholesterol levels checked, regardless of family history.  More children have been seen with abnormal cholesterol levels, and some have shown the beginning stages of atherosclerosis. When your child has their physical exam, we will recommend checking a lipid panel to look at their cholesterol and triglyceride levels.

We encourage parents to learn about cholesterol and the potential risk to their child’s health. We encourage parents to promote a healthy lifestyle for their children including a healthy diet with more fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and lean sources of protein. Families should also increase their activity levels, with children getting at least 30 minutes of exercise every day.

Submitted by Vona Lantz, CPNP

 

Symptoms of Diabetes

Monday, September 26th, 2011

Many patients and their families may not recognize the symptoms of diabetes that can be subtle and they may not seek medical attention until their child or teen is very ill.

Symptoms for Type 1 Diabetes (Insulin dependent diabetes)

  1. Frequent urination. It may be difficult for an individual to go much more than an hour without a very strong urge to urinate. Their body pulls water from body tissues trying to dilute the high glucose (sugar) levels in the blood and there are large volumes of water lost from their body. Many new diabetics are severely dehydrated at the time of diagnosis. Frequent urination is difficult to pick up in infants because they are in diapers.
  2. Unusual Thirst. There is a very strong drive to drink constantly any fluid they can find. Unfortunately, any fluid with carbohydrate content (juice, milk, sugared soda) will continue to raise their blood sugar and this increases their urge to drink and urinate.
  3. Extreme hunger. The body is starving for glucose energy because without insulin, glucose is unable to enter the cells of the body. Individuals crave food like never before and again all of the carbohydrates they ingest will raise their blood sugar level even higher.
  4. Unusual weight loss. Many new diabetics will lose up to 5-15% of their body weight in just a few days to a few weeks by the time they are diagnosed.
  5. Extreme fatigue and irritability.Muscle cells are energy starved so there is noticeable physical fatigue. Brain cells lack glucose and this results in irritability and eventual poor mentation.
  6. Blurred vision. Water moves from inside the eyes to the blood vessels and the decreased volume of the eye leads to blurred vision when the blood sugar level gets high enough.
  7. Yeast infections. Infants may have recurrent yeast (Candida) diaper rash or thrush (Candida/yeast) in their mouth. Yeast is more likely to flourish when glucose levels are high.

Symptoms of Type 2 Diabetes (insulin resistance) may include

  1. Any of the type 1 symptoms. These symptoms for type 2 patients generally are less dramatic than those in type 1 diabetes.
  2. Obesity. Obesity is epidemic in the U.S. and affects infants, children, teens, and adults. Currently 20-35% of adult in this country obese. Obesity is a major risk factor for type 2 diabetes.
  3. Frequent infections. High blood sugar levels produce a perfect environment for bacterial, viral, and yeast infections. Individuals may present with recurrent skin, gum, bladder, or vaginal infections.
  4. Cuts, wounds, and bruises that are slow to heal. This occurs because diabetes can lead to poor circulation, nerve damage, weakened immunity, and an increased risk of infection. Each of these factors contributes to difficulty healing diabetic cuts, wounds, and bruises.
  5. Tingling and numbness in hands and feet. Chronic high blood sugar levels will damage nerves and this can cause neuropathy that produces tingling and numbness in hands and feet.

Schedule an appointment with Crown Point Pediatrics if your son or daughter is experiencing any of these symptoms. Our office can do appropriate blood glucose, urine sugar, and additional blood testing to check for diabetes.

David B. Roos, M.D.

 

The Diabetes Epidemic in the United States: Type I and Type II Diabetes

Tuesday, July 19th, 2011

There is an epidemic of diabetes in the United States involving both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. As of 2010 there were 25.8 million diabetics in this country, roughly 8.3 percent of the U.S. population. About 1.9 million people ages 20 years or older developed diabetes in 2010. 99% of diabetics are older than 20 years of age and the majority of these adults have type 2 diabetes. As of 2010 there were 215,000 people under 20 years of age in the U.S. with type 1 or type 2 diabetes and most of these children have type 1 diabetes.
The epidemic of diabetes is related primarily to the tremendous increase in obesity across the nation that has fueled the rapid rise in rates of both childhood and adult type II diabetes. In the past almost all children developed type 1 insulin dependent diabetes but now with the increasing numbers of obese children there are more children with type 2 diabetes, a disease traditionally seen only in adults.
Type 1 diabetes, previously called juvenile diabetes in children, is caused by a lack of the hormone insulin that is needed to transport glucose (sugar) into each cell of the body. Without insulin a person’s blood sugar can become dangerously high and lead to severe acidosis (high acidity in the blood), coma and even death. A type 1 diabetic requires insulin for the rest of their life and this insulin is given by injection (a shot) or with an insulin pump.
A child with type 2 diabetes has insulin resistance so their body doesn’t respond normally to the insulin they have and glucose (sugar) is unable to efficiently enter body cells. This elevates their blood sugar but not to the very high glucose levels seen in type 1 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is more common in children of certain racial and ethnic groups such as African Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans. Many children with type 2 diabetes have risk factors such as a family history of type 2 diabetes, obesity, hypertension, inactivity, and elevated levels of cholesterol and triglycerides. Children like adults might be treated with diet, medication or even insulin for their type 2 diabetes.
It is important to control type 1 and type 2 diabetes well so children can avoid the future adult complications of heart disease, kidney damage, stroke, blindness, nerve damage and lower-limb amputations as well as the daily risks of low or high blood sugars.
Look for future blogs about signs and symptoms of diabetes and diagnosis and treatment of this disease.
David Roos, M.D.

 

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