Nick Jonas has Type 1 Diabetes

Doctors really don’t know what causes Type 1, or juvenile, diabetes. Research is being done to explore both genetics and environmental triggers, but many kids who are diagnosed with diabetes have no family history of it at all.

Diabetes is manageable; kids who have this condition can live normal, active lives if they pay close attention to treating their condition. Diabetes can’t be cured, but its effects can be minimized. If your child doesn’t do this conscientiously, he or she might develop several undesirable complications. These can include:

• Neuropathy. This is nerve damage. It commonly causes problems in the legs, but it can also affect other systems in the body as well.

• Retinopathy. Diabetes can cause damage to the eyes, including causing blindness.

• Nephropathy. Nephropathy is kidney disease. Weak kidneys allow toxins to build up in the body and make a child sick.

• Heart Disease. Heart disease is more common to diabetics than non-diabetics. It can lead to other complications such as stroke, embolism, or heart attack.

So how do you know if your child has diabetes? There are some symptoms that all parents should be on the lookout for:

• Excessive thirst. Is your child constantly asking for something to drink?

• Frequent urination. If you find yourself saying, “Are you in the bathroom again?”…pay attention!

• Drowsiness or lethargy. They fall asleep over their homework, or they just can’t get the energy to do things they used to enjoy. If you’ve tried adjusting your child’s bedtime and it isn’t helping, bring this to your doctor’s attention.

• Sugar in urine. Obviously your doctor will have to test this, but it’s a pretty significant indicator.

• Sudden vision changes. The cells in the eyes are being attacked by the immune system, so vision decreases fairly quickly.

• Increased appetite. Are they suddenly hungry all the time, and can’t seem to get enough? They could be going through a growth spurt, as all kids do…but it could be diabetes.

• Sudden weight loss. None of that food is being processed like it should be. Instead of gaining weight, they might lose weight very quickly.

• Fruity, sweet, or wine-like odor on breath. The imbalance of sugar and insulin in the blood can come out in strange ways, including very sweet breath.

• Heavy, labored breathing. Your child might find it hard to catch his or her breath, even if they aren’t doing anything strenuous.

• Stupor, unconsciousness. If diabetes goes too long without being diagnosed, it can cause kids to faint or, in extreme cases, fall into a coma.

Taken alone, most of these symptoms seem harmless, but together, they could indicate the presence of Type 1 diabetes. Don’t be afraid to bring them up to your doctor; he or she can judge whether there’s anything to be concerned about. The sooner you start treatment, the more likely your child is to live a normal, active life.

Incoming search terms for the article:

• type 1 diabetes family history
• Type One Diabetes

Laura Dekker, on her boat Guppy

You might remember last month when we posted an article about Zac Sunderland, who had just become the youngest person ever to sail around the world alone.  Zac was 17, but he’s already been displaced by a younger 17-year-old, Mike Perham from Britain.  And Mike has a 15-year-old Australian girl on his heels.

But now there’s one more contender for the record on the horizon.  13-year-old Laura Dekker, who lives with her father in the Netherlands is prepping to make the year-long trip, too, with the full suport of her parents. 

However, she doesn’t have the full support of the Dutch government.  The Dutch Council for Child Protection is trying to get custody of Laura so that they can prevent her from attempting to reak this record.  They say she’s only doing it to please her father, who is also a good sailor, and that it is too dangerous for a girl that young to do on her own. 

Further, they say, this is an important year in an adolescent’s development.  She needs to be with adults and peers, not all on her own on a sailboat in the middle of nowhere for a year.  And authorities insist there’s no way a child that age can handle problems such as storms, mechanical failures, and pirates.  She might even be tracked and followed by people with less than benevolent intentions.

All that is true, though the same could be said for a 17-year-old guy, too.  I guess the question that interests me most is, who gets to decide?  If Laura’s custodial parent–her dad–is an otherwise good parent, does the government really have any say in this?  Is it really their decision? 

Maybe it is, if they feel the father is putting his daughter in danger by allowing her to try this.  The court seems to think so, because they granted the state temporary guardianship of Laura yesterday.  It’s a hard call. 

But it might become moot soon, anyway.  Laura is actually a citizen of New Zealand, having been born there (sort of–she was born on a sailboat in the middle of the ocean), so she might just pack up and move back to New Zealand to sidestep the interference of the Dutch government.

I have a 13-year-old daughter.  If she wanted to do something like this, I’d be incredibly proud…but I’d probably insist she wait until she was 16.  Even then… I wouldn’t want to be away from her for a year.