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| Children with Type 1 diabetes are unable to make a very special substance called insulin. Insulin is a type of chemical messenger known as a hormone. We all need to have insulin to stay alive. Insulin controls the amount of glucose carried in our blood. Glucose is a sugar which our bodies use to provide energy. Most of the organs in our body can burn other foods for energy besides glucose but our brains can effectively ONLY use glucose as a fuel. This is why insulin is so important as it regulates the amount of circulating glucose so that our brains always have enough to work with. Insulin controls glucose levels in two important ways. Firstly it allows our bodies to store energy as fat and as a special sugar store called glycogen. Secondly insulin controls the speed at which our livers produce glucose, needed to keep our brains working. The more insulin around the less glucose released by our livers. When people cannot make insulin their bodies are unable to store energy so they are unable to gain weight. Even worse the liver makes lots of sugar using what energy stores are available causing people to lose weight very quickly. In the process of making glucose from body stores poisons called ketones are released. Sugar levels in the blood become very high. High blood sugar levels cause excess sugar to leak out into the urine and much more urine than usual is produced. This urine is full of sugar which is where the name diabetes mellitus comes from (lots of sweet urine). Without insulin people waste away, wee loads, become dehydrated and eventually die from dehydration, malnutrition and acid poisoning from ketones. The good news is that diabetes mellitus can be treated. All that is needed is to replace the insulin that the body has stopped making. The difficulty is that insulin is a hormone that can't be taken as a medicine or tablet. To work properly it needs to be injected. Fortunately the needles for injecting insulin are so fine that you don't usually feel the injection at all. Important Symptoms of Diabetes: Being thirsty Having to go to the toilet more often to pass urine Having to get up at night to go to the toilet and needing to have drinks at night Losing weight Feeling tired all the time Diagnosing Diabetes: Checking a urine sample for sugar is quick, easy to do and a reliable sign of diabetes. Blood tests are needed to confirm the diagnosis. If you suspect a child has diabetes see your doctor straight away.
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