Diabetes diagnoses in children increases

Pediatric cases of diabetes cases are ticking up but one West point doctor says the trends is not tied with COVID-19

WEST POINT, Miss. (WCBI)- Diabetes can stem from a variety of things and in most cases, is associated with adults but over the years there has been an increase in cases of childhood diabetes. Pediatric Diabetes is the inability of the pancreas to produce insulin that results in abnormal amounts of sugar in the blood.

Diabetes has become more common in children whether it be type one or two. “80% of cases of diabetes in children are what we call type-one or insulin-dependent diabetes the remaining 20 percent are what we call type-two or non-insulin-dependent,” said Dr. Keith Watson, chief of staff at the children’s clinic in West Point. He says no one knows how diabetes shows up but there is a theory. “Your immune system attacks your pancreas and causes it to quit working.”

Type-one is more common but if a child has type two the symptoms are more noticeable. “They typically present to my office and they’re sick. They’re vomiting, weight loss, fevers, excessive urination, excessive thirst excessive hunger…If you have this other form, the type-two, a lot of the people who produce insulin their body is just resistant to it”

Dr. Watson says over the past 10 years he has seen type-two pediatric diabetes increase either because of obesity or family trends of diabetes trickling down and although the global pandemic is ongoing. There aren’t any ties between the two diseases. “COVID does kind of take up the majority of our conversations with parents right now especially with kids that are sick, but I have not seen any kind of relation between COVID and diabetes.”