A sharp increase in the number of children presenting with type 1 diabetes at John Hunter Hospital in the past few weeks has prompted a warning to mums and dads to be on the lookout for signs and symptoms.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
The symptoms include excessive drinking, excessive urination, rapid weight loss and new onset of bedwetting or thrush.
Parents and carers need to seek immediate medical attention because if left untreated, type 1 diabetes can be life-threatening, John Hunter Children's Hospital-based paediatric endocrinologist Dr Patricia Crock said yesterday.
"If you start to lose insulin it can be life-threatening, [and children] have to be admitted to hospital within 24 hours," she said.
The growing incidence of type 1 diabetes, which is different to the diet and lifestyle-related type 2 diabetes, is being investigated around the world. Hunter researchers are at the cutting edge, looking into a range of possible triggers and environmental factors, particularly viral exposure.
Associate Professor Maria Craig, a paediatric endocrinologist at Westmead Children's Hospital and a co-investigator with Dr Crock, said only 20 per cent of those with type 1 diabetes had a genetic predisposition.
More than 200 patients with a low genetic risk of developing type 1 diabetes, including 21 from the Hunter, are being followed to see if, how and when the disease develops in those individuals.
