Awareness of Type 1 Diabetes
An expert pediatric endocrinologist discusses raising awareness among pediatricians about type 1 diabetes.
Elaine M. Apperson, MD: Sometimes it takes a second or third visit to an urgent care or a PCP [primary care provider] office to recognize signs of type 1 diabetes. Buzzwords are important to have in a PCP’s ear. Fatigue and frequent urination, for example. Sometimes they hear frequent urination and they go right to UTI [urinary tract infection]; or polydipsia, nocturia, UTI. Additionally, unintentional weight loss and abdominal pain. Abdominal pain can occur if you’re having keto acids with fat burning.
I think they will never ever go wrong with doing a urinalysis and a fingerstick blood sugar test. If a patient is spilling glucose and has some ketones on their urinalysis and they get a blood sugar test done, they’re always going to find it. Sometimes I never get to see the blood sugar results, and there is no urinalysis. To me those tests are so easy because they have the ability to do that in every single office.
Transcript Edited for Clarity
Children more likely to inherit type 1 diabetes from fathers than mothers
July 29th 2024"Taken together, our findings suggest the relative protection associated with having a mother versus father with type 1 diabetes is a long-term effect that extends into adult life," stated study investigators.
