Type I diabetes, often called juvenile diabetes, is a genetic disease that is usually diagnosed in early childhood. However, because doctors do not do blood sugar testing during the regular course of an examination, you have to be aware of the signs and symptoms of diabetes. However, the first thing you have to be aware of is that there are differences between a symptom and a sign of a disease.
A symptom of the disease is something that you can actually measure. For example, one of the symptoms of type I diabetes is elevated glucose levels. If your doctor test your child’s blood sugar, and it is high, this may be a symptom of type I diabetes. This will depend upon when they last ate and a few other factors.
But a sign is something completely different. A sign is something that is somewhat subjective. In other words, your child is going to have to tell you how they are feeling. Some of the signs of diabetes you may be able to discern for yourself, but knowing whether or not they are caused by diabetes is something completely different. Let’s go over nine of the common signs of diabetes for children.
1. Increased Thirst
If your child is constantly asking for more juice or water, or you notice that they are drinking more liquid than usual, and you may want to ask them if they are feeling thirsty all the time. If this is the case, it could be a sign of diabetes.
The problem is, when you have too much sugar in your blood, your body tries to dilute it with any of the available liquid that is located in various organs and tissues. This can lead to dehydration which causes excessive thirst.
