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Leah Dobres
Mr. Maite
Grammar and Research
9 October 2014
Insulin. Blood sugar. Beta cells. Glucose. Juvenile endocrinologists. Hyperglycemia.
Hypoglycemia. Ketones. Insulin resistance. These are all terms that most children never give a
second thought to, while the unlucky fews lives revolve around them. Juvenile diabetes leaves a
mark on everyone, from the diabetic to a stranger who witnesses them pricking their finger to test
blood sugar levels. Look around, because juvenile diabetes is a serious problem facing many young
people today.
So what IS juvenile diabetes? In the medical world, diabetes is known as Diabetes Mellitus
(Haney 16). Diabetes is caused by abnormalities in the bodys production of insulin (Barrett and
Barrett Diabetes). Insulin is a hormone that is used for sugar to enter cells and produce energy.
(Szabo Diabetes Rates Skyrocket in Kids and Teens). Think about it like this: Each cell is a house.
The house has a door that is locked, but the blood sugar needs to get in. The insulin acts like a key,
helping blood sugar, or glucose, to enter the cell. Diabetes occurs when the key does not work
properly.
Just like many things could happen to a key to damage it, many things can happen to the
insulin to damage it. Beta cells are the cells that produce insulin (Barrett and Barrett Diabetes)
which are like the factories that produce keys. The body may become resistant to insulin, or not
produce enough, which causes blood sugar levels to vary from normal (Barrett and Barrett
Diabetes). There are two main types of diabetes, Type-one was formerly known as Juvenile
Diabetes, because it tends to onset before the age of twenty (Barrett and Barrett Diabetes). We
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now have the knowledge that this is not always the case. Adults can get type-one, and children can
get type-two, which used to be thought of as an adult onset diabetes.
Diabetes has been around for a very long time. However, very little was known about it until
fairly recently. In fact, until the mid-1900s, children and teens with diabetes almost always died
(Peacock 8). Now we know much more about this disease, but there is still much to be discovered.
Researchers are always looking for more information about treatments and causes of diabetes. Even
though we now know about diabetes, it can still be difficult to find help. In 2011 there were three
states in America that had no juvenile endocrinologists, and twenty-two states with fewer than ten
(Linebaugh Grim New Diabetes Milestone). A juvenile endocrinologist is a doctor who specializes
in the juvenile endocrine system; the endocrine system is the system in the human body that secretes
hormones. Diabetes is one of the diseases that endocrinologists treat.
Type-one diabetes occurs when the bodys immune system attacks beta cells in the pancreas,
which are the only cells in the body that produce insulin. Doctors are yet to discover exactly why
these cells are attacked (Peacock 4). This makes blood sugar rise to unnaturally high levels, which
can be dangerous. Type-one diabetes is not fatal on its own, however, various side effects can be
fatal, and are what make diabetes so dangerous. Although treatments can help to manage insulin,
there is no permanent cure for type-one diabetes (Barrett and Barrett Diabetes).
Type-one diabetes is one of the two main types of diabetes. Although anyone could
potentially get type-one diabetes, it is more common in Caucasian people (Peacock 14). About five
to ten percent of diabetics, or people with diabetes, have type-one diabetes (Peacock 11). Nearly
167,000 people in the United States under age twenty have type-one diabetes. The rate of children
and teens with type-one diabetes climbed twenty-one percent between 2000 and 2009 to about one
point three per one thousand children (Szabo Diabetes Rates Skyrocket in Kids and Teens).
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Although type-two diabetes is not considered juvenile diabetes, children still get it, so it can
be important for children and parents to be aware of. As opposed to type-one, where the body stops
making insulin (Peacock 4), type-two diabetes is mainly when the body becomes resistant to insulin.
However in some cases not enough insulin is produced (Szabo Diabetes Rates Skyrocket in Kids
and Teens). Type-two develops much slower than type-one does, and there are often no signs that
something is wrong, so internal organs begin to sustain damage (Barrett and Barrett Diabetes).
Often times type-two diabetes is associated with obesity (Szabo Diabetes Rates Skyrocket in Kids
and Teens). This is because fat cells, especially around the stomach, produce a hormone that
counteracts insulin (Scheiner Why Excess Body Fat Contributes to Type-two Diabetes). Together,
diabetes and obesity increase risks for heart attacks, strokes, kidney failure, and blindness. Obese
diabetics are also at increased risk of needing amputations of limbs. (Szabo Diabetes Rates
Skyrocket in Kids and Teens).
The prevalence of type-two diabetes had increased thirty present between 2000 and 2009 to
point four six per one thousand children. More than twenty-thousand people under twenty have typetwo diabetes in the United States (Szabo Diabetes Rates Skyrocket in Kids and Teens). Ninety to
ninety-five percent of diabetics have type-two (Peacock 11). African Americans, Hispanic
Americans, and American Indians are the most prone to get type-two diabetes (Linebaugh Grim
New Diabetes Milestone). Unlike type-one, type-two is potentially curable in many cases through
medications, proper diet, and exercise.
As stated earlier, diabetes is caused by abnormalities in the production of insulin. But what
are these abnormalities? When it comes to type-one diabetes, we know that the immune system
attacks beta cells in the pancreas (Barrett and Barrett Diabetes). This means that there is little or no
insulin to act as a key to let glucose into cells, so blood sugar levels rise. Exactly why this happens
remains unknown (Peacock 4).
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With type-two diabetes, there is a bit more variation in its cause. It is caused by reduced
insulin production, or a decrease in the bodys ability to use insulin properly (Barrett and Barrett
Diabetes). When the body cannot use insulin, this is called insulin resistance. Using our key
example from earlier, this would be similar to when someone tries to use the wrong key to a door.
This would not open the door. There is a key, and there is a door, but they will not work together. The
cell cannot let glucose in, so blood sugar levels rise. However the body wastes energy trying to
produce more insulin because it senses that there is too much sugar, but the insulin that it is making
does not work. This is like more of the wrong keys being produced. One reason that this can happen
is because excess fat cells produce hormones that make insulin work incorrectly (Scheiner Why
Excess Body Fat Contributes to Type-two Diabetes). Type-two can also be caused by factors such as
advancing age, lack of physical activity, and family history.
Diabetes can cause many side effects and problems. The disease itself is not fatal, it is the
side effects and secondary diseases that are the most dangerous. When cells are unable to use glucose
for energy, because insulin is not being produced properly, they begin to break down stored fat. This
produces ketones, and the buildup of ketones is known as ketoacidosis. This can cause nausea,
vomiting, and fainting if not treated. High blood sugar levels can also lead to Hyperglycemia. This
can cause injury to small blood vessels in the eyes, kidneys, and nervous system. Hyperglycemia may
also cause injury to large blood vessels which can increase the risk of heart attacks and failures and
strokes. Another problem that diabetes can lead to is hypoglycemia. Hypoglycemia is when too much
insulin causes a dangerous drop in blood sugar levels. This can cause confusion, loss of
consciousness, rapid heartbeat, sweating, shakiness, and seizures. These symptoms are what make
type-one diabetes so dangerous. Blood sugar levels need to be maintained, because if they are too
low or too high, illnesses may occure (Barrett and Barrett Diabetes).
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There are many different ways that diabetes can be treated. Treatments depend on the type of
diabetes, the patients medical conditions, and finances. Patients have to monitor their blood sugar
several times a day, such as before a meal, before bed, and if they feel as if they are not within
normal range. A portable monitor is used with a single drop of blood drawn from the fingertip to test
blood sugar levels (Barrett and Barrett Diabetes).
Type-one diabetes requires lifelong insulin treatments (Linebaugh Grim New Diabetes
Milestone). Insulin treatments must be taken by injection, because the digestive system would break
the insulin down if it was taken orally. There are many ways that insulin can be injected into the
body. One is insulin injections taken after a meal, or when blood sugar is high. Another method is an
external insulin pump. This machine administers insulin based on what amount the user programs it
to give at a certain time. Another technique is an insulin infusion pump. This works much like a
pancreas by monitoring the blood sugar, and giving the appropriate amount of insulin to correct the
levels (Barrett and Barrett Diabetes).
Treatments for type-two diabetes are typically losing weight, exercising, and controlling diet.
There are also pills that can stimulate insulin producing cells or reduce insulin resistance (Barrett and
Barrett Diabetes). Many type-two diabetics who have had the disease for a long time have had oral
medications begin to fail. Many of these patients are turning to insulin treatments similar to those that
type-one diabetics must use (Linebaugh Grim New Diabetes Milestone).
There are many new treatments that researchers are looking into. One area being researched
are injections of beta cell clusters into veins in the abdomen to try to produce insulin (Barrett and
Barrett Diabetes). Researchers are also looking into producing artificial pancreases (Haney 42).
Bryn Sentnor is a thirteen year old girl from Saint Louis, Missouri. She loves to sing, act,
dance, do gymnastics, go to camp, and be Jewish. From looking at her, or having a conversation with
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her, you would never know that she has been battling type-one diabetes for the past five years. Bryn
is part of the 8.3% of the American population that suffers from diabetes. On normal days, Bryn will
go to school and learn like many other teenagers. But when she is given a snack, she has to test her
blood sugar, count carbohydrates in the snack, and give herself insulin to adjust for the snack. This
often results in a simple task taking Bryn a long time. Sometimes she has to sit out of activities
because her blood sugar is not where it should be. Other than this, Bryn does not let having diabetes
stop her from the things that she loves. She points out that kids with diabetes are really just normal
kids (Sentnor).
Diabetes in children is a serious problem that we need to be aware of. Although there is
much information known about blood sugar, insulin, glucose, beta cells, hyperglycemia,
hypoglycemia, ketones, insulin resistance, and so much more, more knowledge is being uncovered
each day. You never know who could be affected by this disease.