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It is really unfortunate to see children diagnosed with diabetes. Most of the children get diagnosed with what is called as type 1 diabetes or juvenile diabetes. The child suffering from this type of diabetes would require an intake of insulin on regular basis for the body to function normally. Some children are also diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, which is commonly seen only among adults. It is very important to understand this disease and ways to combat it.

Some of the symptoms are as follows:

• Frequent urination: some parents may ignore this, and think that frequent urination is normal, but polyuria (frequent urination) is one of the symptoms of diabetes. Here the body wants to get rid of the excess glucose present in the body.
• Polydisia is when a child drinks a lot of water. This is an obvious result of polyuria, because when a body passes a lot of urine, the body looses a lot of water. Therefore it makes a person feel even thirstier. A standard amount of water has to be maintained in your child’s body. This water balance is disturbed because of frequent urination. There is a loss of electrolytes in the urine and this also causes a craving for more water. Excessive thirst is one of the first symptoms of diabetes.
• When a child has childhood diabetes he/she will always demand for more food and will feel hungry quite often. This is because the child always has a shortage of energy in its body.Therefore excessive appetite is also an early symptom of childhood diabetes.
• There is always surplus glucose in the child’s blood, but no energy is obtained from it, so the body is not able to get the needed nourishment. These leads to loss of body weight as the breaks down the fat and protein for its energy, thus causing weight loss. Thus, muscle wasting and weight loss is a visible symptom of childhood diabetes.
• Weakness and fatigue is a typical symptom of childhood diabetes. Even though the child has a rich source of energy in the form of glucose, this energy is not produced in the cells and hence the child feels weak.
• Excess sugar in the blood causes damage to the capillaries and deposits fatty substances narrowing the blood passages. This reduces the blood flow, oxygen and nutrition which in turn cause nerve damage. This serves as a breeding ground for bacteria which prevents healing of wounds.