Table of Contents
Health is one of the most important aspects of human life and especially children. There has always been a lot of controversy surrounding children diabetes as either a myth or a fact. It is vital to remove any type of confusion about this disease as it threatens the peacefulness of these children’s lives and both their mental and physical development. This paper argues that a better understanding of this diabetes is necessary in order to determine the required interventions and possible help.
Having a child with diabetes is often a challenging endeavor as it requires a lot of background information on the topic and an extended effort in order to keep the child’s sugar level within the normal range. The extreme of this disease is attributable to the fact that any irregularities in the sugar levels can lead to some serious consequences (Whiteman & Gill, 2019).
Another reason for the importance of discussing this specific issue which is a large number of patients especially teens and children (Whiteman & Gill, 2019). According to the National Institue of Health, there are about 208,000 children and teens that suffer from type 1 or type 2 diabetes which shows the seriousness and the wide scale of its presence (Whiteman & Gill, 2019).
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Low or high levels of blood sugar in children can lead to serious short-term and long-term consequences such as hypoglycemia, hyperglycemia, or diabetic ketoacidosis (Whiteman & Gill, 2019). The long-term damages of this disease can extend to damage the internal organs of the children and it can also increase the probability of heart attacks, stroke and kidney problems (Whiteman & Gill, 2019). This shows the significance of understanding this disease, especially for parents.
The PICO question elements of this paper include children as patients, treatment and increasing parental awareness as an indicator, early intervention as a comparison and reduced damaged to children as the desired outcome of this paper. There are two types of diabetes that can affect children which include type 1 and type 2 diabetes which despite what a similar name might suggest, are very different diseases (Whiteman & Gill, 2019). Type 1 diabetes affects the pancreas’ ability to produce insulin which controls element affecting blood sugar (Whiteman & Gill, 2019).
Insulin process sugar which allows it to travel from the blood and facilitate its absorption within the cells in addition to this, it also controls blood sugar levels (Whiteman & Gill, 2019). Type 1 diabetes often manifests during childhood and early adolescence while type 2 diabetes is less common in children, it can affect children whose insulin does not fulfill its role completely (Whiteman & Gill, 2019). This summarizes the main types of diabetes in children and illustrates the major differences between them.
Treatment options for type 1 diabetes include long term use of insulin, and addition to constant monitoring of blood sugar. In addition to medication, diet and exercise can help in controlling blood sugar levels and keeping them within the desired range (Whiteman & Gill, 2019). Treatment options for type 2 diabetes include exercise, a healthy diet and keeping the person’s weight within the healthy range (Whiteman & Gill, 2019).
The signs and symptoms for type 1 diabetes include hunger, weight loss, fatigue and blurred vision in addition to other symptoms (Whiteman & Gill, 2019). Type 2 diabetes symptoms include frequent urinating, increased thirst, unexplained weight loss and slow healing of cuts in addition to less noticeable symptoms (Whiteman & Gill, 2019).
It is necessary to pay attention to these symptoms because they can be very easy to miss. According to Diabetes UK, only 9 percent of parents were able to notice these symptoms which means that most children do not get an appropriate diagnosis until their symptoms become too prominent (Whiteman & Gill, 2019). This concludes the overview of the two types of the disease, their symptom, and treatments.
A team of well-known and respected scientists in Nigeria conducted a study in order to obtain a better understanding of the public’s perception of childhood diabetes especially in low-income areas (Chikani et al., 2018). The study included 500 respondents who were chosen based on a multistage sampling from various areas in the South East of Nigeria.
The researchers used a questionnaire in order to validate their findings and collect enough data to run it through the SPSS software (Chikani et al., 2018). The study concluded that the beliefs and public perception of the adults in Enugu, south-East Nigeria on childhood diabetes were often wrong and most likely deficient (Chikani et al., 2018).
The study also found that education level did not matter when it came to adult’s perception of the disease or their understanding of the necessary precautions (Chikani et al., 2018). This means that awareness campaigns should be held in order to improve adult caregivers’ understanding of the disease and provide the necessary treatment to the children.
Conclusion
In conclusion, both the articles provide well-written arguments for the severity of this problem and the seriousness of the current lack of understanding. The articles were very organized with solid introductions, main bodies, and conclusions that provided a comprehensive guide to the disease. It is important to increase the awareness of adult caregivers about this disease and the threat, it poses to their children. It is also necessary to increase the children’s understanding of their own disease and the healthy practices that can also help them control their disease and to live a normal life as kids.
References
- Chikani, U., Bisi-Onyemaechi, A., Oguonu, T., Ugege, S., & Ogugua, C. (2018). Childhood diabetes: a myth or reality?- perception of the public from a low-income country: a cross-sectional study. BMC Public Health, 18(1). doi: 10.1186/s12889-018-5744-7
- Whiteman, H., & Gill, K. (2019). Diabetes in children and teens: Symptoms and diagnosis. Retrieved from https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/284974.php
