«Alexander was diagnosed with type 1 diabeteswhich is one autoimmune disease, chronic and degenerative and which, even if it is not seen, can have very serious consequences. We are constantly forced to monitor his blood sugar and give him insulin injections several times a day every day”.
So he tells in a video entrusted to Instagram, and shared by Italian Diabetes Foundation, Massimo Ambrosini. In fact, the former AC Milan midfielder wanted to speak openly about the disease diagnosed six months ago to the son smaller, emphasizing the importance of support scientific research for what is, still today, an incurable disease.
“This is why I will run the Milan marathon relay on April 2 with 3 of my former teammates together with the Italian Diabetes Foundation” – wrote Ambrosini in the post accompanying the video, inviting support for the initiative born to run, through the Gift network.
What is type 1 diabetes
Type 1 diabetes it’s a chronic autoimmune disease: at the base, a process of destruction, by autoantibodies, from the cells in the pancreas that produce insulina hormone that plays a vital role in maintaining normal sugar concentration in the blood.
L’mean age of onset Yes observed around the age of 14or in adolescence, however the disease can occur also in childrenas Professor Livio Luzi, Full Professor of Endocrinology at the University of Milan and Director of the Department of Endocrinology, Nutrition and Metabolic Diseases of the MultiMedica Group, explained to us in an interview on the subject.
Type 1 diabetes: the causes
The causes of type 1 diabetes are in genetic part. “Today we know that the presence of polymorphisms of some genes predisposes to type 1 diabetes – explained Professor Luzi – To this genetic predisposition then there are environmental factors which can occur as triggering events. Among them, the best known it is a viral infectionlike a common flu. Talking to parents, in fact, it is frequent to hear that, 4 or 8 weeks before the clinical onset of diabetes in the child, there has been a febrile episode of viral infection. It is clearly an environmental factor that can only act in an already predisposed subject, going to affect the immune system that begins to produce autoantibodies against pancreatic cells».
Type 1 diabetes in children: the alarm bells
So if the presence of one or both parents with type 1 diabetes is an alarm bell, then there are signs that experts recommend paying attention to.
The autoantibodies that damage and destroy the pancreas cells responsible for the production of insulin can in fact act in a few weeks giving rise to characteristic symptoms determined by the increase in blood sugar.
The first symptom to watch out for is the polyuriai.e. the increased amount of urine and frequency of urination. If the blood sugar in circulation exceeds a certain threshold, in fact, the glucose is, through a physiological mechanism, eliminated in the urine and since it captures water, its quantity increases. “Whether the child or the boy starts waking up two or three times a night to go to the bathroomand a urinary tract infection has been excluded, this can be considered a telltale» – underlines Professor Luzi.
Another characteristic symptom is what is termed polydipsiai.e. the excessive thirst with increased fluid intake. By urinating more and losing more liquids, the child, like the adult, gets to drink more and be more thirsty.
The third signal associated with type 1 diabetes is the polyphagia, or the increase in hunger that can be the consequence of another typical signal that occurs above all when the course of the disease appears slower: the body weight loss. “A strange weight loss in a guy who eats a lot and that he is hungrier can be considered an alarm bell – explains the expert – The lack of insulin, in fact, determines a condition of loss of muscle mass which in turn activates a physiological mechanism of hunger “.
Type 1 diabetes: what is the treatment
To date, to keep type 1 diabetes under control, there are no other therapies other than insulin. Insulin, in fact, must be given to children several times a day through one subcutaneous injection usually done with pen injectors. In recent years these devices are also being replaced innovative systems designed to make life easier for patients and disease management. Another method of administering insulin today is represented by the insulin pumpa continuous infusion pump which infuses the subcutaneous tissue with insulin 24 hours a dayaccording to defined settings and with different levels of automation.
What does hypoglycemia mean?
As reported by the Ministry of Healthtype 1 diabetes mellitus can give rise to numerous short-term and long-term complications. Among the short-term ones, the most formidable is hypoglycemiathat is to say “the sudden drop in blood sugar, with glycaemia below 70mg/dl, due to an excessive dose of insulin or to an inadequate meal compared to the administered insulin or to excessive physical effort and not accompanied by the intake of sugars. The symptoms of hypoglycemia can also appear in the presence of slightly higher values, if there is a rapid drop in blood sugar itself». In case of hypoglycemia it is important intervene promptly. «In this phase the same patient can put an end to the symptoms by taking sugar or a glass of a sugary drink – reads again on the website of the Ministry of Health – If you don’t take action right away, your symptoms can get worse loss of consciousness, seizures and coma. In this case it is necessary for another person to administer a vial of glucagon, a hormone that causes blood sugar to rise rapidly».
On the website of Italian Society of Diabetology information you need to know to properly manage hypoglycemia.
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Source: Vanity Fair
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