Insulin dependent diabetes is form of diabetes that usually begins in childhood. It only accounts for 5% of the diabetes in the United States but is in some ways more dangerous and has a greater impact on a person’s life than non-insulin dependent diabetes. A person with insulin dependent diabetes can become sick very quickly. Simply eating the wrong way or taking medication wrong can cause a person to be hospitalized, go into a coma, or have a seizure.
Insulin is a hormone, made by the pancreas, which allows the glucose, or sugar, in the bloodstream to enter into cells and be converted into energy. In insulin dependent diabetes the pancreas makes little or no natural insulin. Damage to the pancreas could occur for a number of reasons, but in most cases of insulin dependent diabetes, the pancreatic cells are attacked by the body’s own immune system. The reason for this autoimmunity is still uncertain. Currently, scientists believe it is brought about by some type of environmental trigger such as a virus in people who are already genetically susceptible to the disease.
In any case, since a diabetic cannot produce enough insulin to allow the body to function normally, they must depend on medical insulin survive. They therefore have “insulin dependent diabetes”. If an individual allows their blood sugar levels to run too low the results can be devastating. For example, the diabetic may develop ketoacidosis, a very dangerous condition by which a person may die if the correct treatment is not administered quickly. Then again, if blood sugar levels are allowed to stay too high, a person could develop problems with their heart, blood vessels, eyes, kidney’s and nerves over time.
Insulin Dependent Diabetes Baby?
According to one of the top headlines from The Times of Indiaa two-month-old baby was recently diagnosed with insulin dependent type-1 diabetes. A baby being diagnosed with this disease at such an early age is “indeed an uncommon phenomenon” according to the doctors from Colours Children Hospital.
The infant began coming in with fever, persistent vomiting, and dehydration, according to the article, posted on March 20, 2012. The child had been having convulsions too. The staff began to investigate, and found that the child’s blood sugar level had risen to around 600 milligrams. It was hard for doctors to believe the diagnosis at first, so the infant was subjected to many tests before the disease was confirmed. Dr. SaileshPitale, an endocrinologist with 20 years of experience, states that the youngest baby he has ever seen diagnosed with diabetes was only 9 days old, but this 2 month old baby is the youngest he has ever known to survive.
