As many as three million people in the U.S. may have Type 1 diabetes, according to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Type 1 diabetes accounts for $14.9 billion in health care costs in the U.S. annually, according to a 2009 report by The Lewin Group and Novo Nordisk.
The rate of Type 1 diabetes incidence among children under the age of 14 is estimated to increase by 3 percent annually worldwide, according to the International Diabetes Federation.
In 2011, Dayton Children's Medical Center treated 934 patients with Type 1 diabetes, according to a hospital official.
Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center treated 1,703 patients with Type 1 diabetes at least once in 2011, a hospital official said.
As Type 1 diabetes incidence rates in children continue to increase, local organizations work toward finding a cure.
The JDRF’s Southwest Ohio Chapter hopes to raise $170,000 or more for Type 1 diabetes research at the Dayton “Come Fly with Me” Gala at 6 p.m. Saturday, June 2, in the Commander Aero Hangar at the Dayton-Wright Brothers Airport in Springboro. Each year, the gala raises an average of $150,000 for research to find a cure for Type 1 diabetes.
We spoke to four local experts and two families to help you better understand the complexity of this disease.
Type 1 diabetes versus Type 2 diabetes
The two major types of diabetes are Type 1 and Type 2, experts said.
Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease in which a person’s pancreas stops producing insulin, a hormone that enables people to get energy from food. Type 1 diabetes usually begins in childhood, adolescence or young adulthood, and lasts for one’s whole life. Individuals with Type 1 diabetes must take multiple injections of insulin each day or continually infuse insulin through a pump. Five percent of people with diabetes have this form of the disease, according to the American Diabetes Association.
On the other hand, Type 2 diabetes is a metabolic disorder in which the body produces insulin, but is unable to use it effectively.
Type 2 typically is diagnosed in adulthood and does not always require insulin injections.
Affects both children and adults
Both children and adults are inflicted by Type 1 diabetes, experts said. The typical age of onset is 12 years old, said Dr. Deborah Elder, who works in the Division of Endocrinology at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center.
About two-thirds to three-fourths of Type 1 diabetes incidents is found in individuals younger than 20, Glowienka said. About one-fourth of Type 1 diabetes patients develop the disease after age 20, he said. People in their 40s and 50s do experience the onset of Type 1 diabetes, too, said Dr. Moira Pfeifer, a pediatric endocrinologist at Dayton Children’s.
Pfeifer said there’s no clear reason why the rate of Type 1 diabetes incidence among children under the age of 14 is increasing worldwide.
“It’s kind of scary,” she said.
Classic warning signs
Experts said the first warning sign of Type 1 diabetes is frequent urination. Those with Type 1 diabetes who are potty trained may begin to wet the bed and need to go to the bathroom constantly.
That’s a “red flag,” said Dr. Richard Allen Turner, a board certified pediatrician at Rocking Horse Center in Springfield. Turner said often people will need to urinate every 10 to 15 minutes at Type 1 diabetes’ onset.
The second warning sign is excessive fluid consumption, according to experts. Pfeifer said individuals with the disease begin to drink gallons of water, milk, juice and other beverages each day.
“They have this unquenchable thirst,” she said of Type 1 diabetes patients at the onset of the disease.
Drinking a lot is the body’s way of trying to avoid dehydration, Elder said.
A third sign is weight loss, according to experts. At the onset of Type 1 diabetes, people are losing calories due to frequent urination. Everything they eat goes right through their body, Pfeifer said.
Elder said the amount of weight loss varies, depending on how long symptoms have been brewing.
“If glucose isn’t getting into the cells, your body is in a starvation state,” Turner said.
According to Pfeifer, people should seek medical attention after they experience excessive urination and beverage consumption.
“If they wait longer, then they’ll be pretty sick,” she said.
If people wait too long, they may develop diabetic ketoacidosis, said Dr. Paul Glowienka, endocrinologist and medical director at the Joslin Diabetes Center affiliate at Southview Hospital in Dayton. A potentially life-threatening complication, DKA results from a shortage of insulin. The body switches to burning fatty acids and producing acidic ketone bodies. Symptoms include vomiting and nausea.
According to Elder, the onset of Type 1 diabetes may be especially difficult for parents to recognize in children during the summer. Parents may mistakenly think excessive urination and fluid consumption are due to their children’s participation in athletic activities during the warm months.
A constant challenge
Type 1 diabetes requires persistent attention, experts said. Sufferers must check their blood sugar levels at least four to six times each day, they said. Glowienka said that can be a “full-time job.”
A device called a glucometer can be used to read blood sugar levels. Different types of devices can be used. Often, those with Type 1 diabetes prick their finger with a small needle called a lancet to get a drop of blood. The blood is then placed on a test strip, which is put into the device. Results are available in 30 to 45 seconds.
Those who suffer from the disease must constantly monitor what they eat and how many carbohydrates they consume, according to experts. Stress and exercise also have an effect on blood sugar levels, according to Pfeifer.
Pfeifer said Type 1 diabetes patients and their families need to be well educated about the disease in order to manage it. Children who suffer from the disease need a support system, she said.
“Somebody has to take them to the doctor,” she said. “It’s a family disease.”
Local parents’ perspective
Michele Doughman, from the Springfield area, is the mother of Cadence Doughman, a 9-year-old who has Type 1 diabetes. Cadence Doughman was diagnosed on June 2, 2010.
Michelle Doughman noticed something was not right with her daughter in May 2010. Her daughter started crying often, but couldn’t tell Michelle Doughman what was wrong. Then, Cadence Doughman started waking up in the middle of the night, and running to the bathroom all the time. Cadence Doughman became lethargic and too tired to even walk at times.
Her mother decided to take her to the Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus.
“Within an hour of being admitted, they had her blood sugar back down, and I had my child back,” Michelle Doughman said.
Raising a child with Type 1 diabetes is a constant challenge, she said. She checks Cadence Doughman’s blood sugar eight to 10 times each day.
“It’s very challenging at times,” she said. “You have to have patience. ... It’s very hard for me to think my daughter has to take insulin every day for the rest of her life to stay alive.”
Karen Howard of Springfield worries every day, too. She has a son, who will turn 10 on Wednesday, with Type 1 diabetes. Logan was diagnosed when he was 1 year old.
The warning signs began when 1-year-old Logan Howard began “eating like crazy and urinating constantly,” his mother said. He lost 25 percent of his body weight that year, Karen Howard said.
“Your biggest fear when your son is first diagnosed is that they are not going to wake up, that they’re going to go into a coma,” she said. “ ... You’re constantly worrying.”
Going forward
Experts said research continues to advance and move toward finding a cure for Type 1 Disease.
Elder said devices that provide continuous glucose monitoring are being tested in clinical trials right now.
According to Glowienka, the key to finding a cure for Type 1 diabetes is to focus on the beta cells that are destroyed.
In addition to continued research and development, events in the community also are important for raising awareness and money to cure Type 1 diabetes, Elder said.
“It helps to bring the community and patients who often feel isolated by a chronic disease together,” she said.
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