Type-1 diabetes, often called juvenile diabetes, can be a very serious condition if not controlled. Juvenile diabetes symptoms normally set in during childhood, adolescents, or young adulthood. Symptoms of juvenile diabetes can easily be mistaken for other common illness, so it is important to educate yourself on the symptoms for juvenile diabetes.
Juvenile Diabetes Symptoms in Children
According to FirstSignsofDiabetesSymptoms.com, there are 9 signs and symptoms for juvenile diabetes that you should look out for:
- Frequent urination. You may pass it off, thinking your child is just being overactive.
- Extreme thirst. If you child begins drinking more than usual, you should visit you physician, especially if you notice other symptoms.
- Extreme hunger. Your child will most likely crave sweets like cake and complain about being hungry all of the time.
- Blurred vision. This is one of the main juvenile diabetes symptoms. Normally vision becomes blurred after high intakes of sugar.
- Irritability. Your child may become irritable, refusing to play with others.
- Nausea.Vomiting or complaints of nausea is fairly common in children, but if you are noticing other diabetes symptoms as well, this could be a medical emergency. This could be a sign of diabetic ketoacidosis, which may lead to seizure, coma, or even death.
- Losing weight. Losing weight in spite of eating and drinking more is never a good sign. It is easy to suppose, however, that they are just ‘running it off’.
- Fatigue. It is not normal for a child to complain about feeling tired or sleepy all of the time. If this happens, you should speak to your family physician soon.
- Acetone breath.People often describe smelling a fruity odor, or smell of acetone on the breath of diabetics.
Juvenile Diabetes Symptoms in Toddlers
If you are noticing juvenile diabetes symptoms in a toddler, it can be a scary thing. As caregiver, you are the only ally a child has in this type of situation. So it is important to pay attention to the signs and have doctor visits regularly. The juvenile diabetes symptoms for toddlers are basically the same as the ones listed above for children, you will just come across them in different ways. For example, with a child you may notice that you are changing diapers more often than usual or that they are have more accidents. Frequent bed-wetting in a child that used to stay dry all night is a clear indication that something is wrong. Other indications are:
- They ask for foods or drinks frequently (and actually intake them).
- Wounds seem to heal slowly.
- The child seems to miss details when looking at something or states that things appear fuzzy.
- Frequent yeast infections in young girls are one of the major juvenile diabetes symptoms.