As a parent, it is important to be aware of the dangers and signs of childhood diabetes. More and more children are beginning to suffer from diabetes at younger ages and knowing the signs and symptoms could help prevent diabetes in your family. Every year over 13,000 children are diagnosed with juvenile diabetes and the numbers are only growing with each passing year. Symptoms of childhood diabetes appear rapidly and there is no cure, this is a lifetime condition that your child will have to deal with on a daily basis. With this being said let’s discuss the warning signs of juvenile diabetes so you have an idea what to look for.

Signs of Childhood Diabetes may include:

• Frequent urination is the most common and blatant warning sign of diabetes. If your child has already been toilet trained and has out of the blue started wetting the bed or having problems controlling their bladder, this may be a sign of childhood diabetes.
• Extreme thirst that goes beyond daily thirst requirements
• They seem to be eating more often and still claiming to be hungry
• Irritability
• Blurred vision
• Unexplained weight loss, meaning your child seems to be eating normally and consistently but their weight is not reflecting this
• Extreme fatigue where your child seems to not be able to stay awake during the day or has no energy to take part in the activities they normally enjoy

Many of these signs of childhood diabetes when found alone could mean a number of different things. You want to look for at least 2 of these symptoms experienced at the same time in order to consider the possibility of childhood diabetes. When you notice 2 or more it is time to visit your family physician. The longer you want to have your child looked at the more rapid the symptoms will progress until you are dealing with Type 1 diabetes.

Juvenile diabetes is one of the most commonly misdiagnosed conditions because the warning signs are so general they could literally be attributed to any number of childhood conditions like the flu. This is why as a parent it is so important to understand how juvenile diabetes forms so you can have some of your own knowledge instead of blindly relying on one doctor’s opinion. A blood test is the sure fire way to know for sure whether your child is suffering from juvenile diabetes.

This blood test will show an incredible lack of insulin in the body and prove without a doubt that the signs of childhood diabetes were in fact correct.