What is diabetes mellitus?

Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disorder. This is a problem with how the body uses food. It is characterized by a failure to secrete enough insulin, or, the inability to use insulin. Because insulin is needed by the body to convert glucose into energy, these failures result in excessively high levels of glucose in the blood and not enough energy. Diabetes may be a result of other conditions, such as genetic syndromes, chemicals, medicines, malnutrition, infections, viruses, or other illnesses.

The 3 main types of diabetes—type 1, type 2, and gestational (during pregnancy only)—are all defined as metabolic disorders that affect the way the body metabolizes, or uses, digested food to make glucose. Glucose is the main source of fuel for the body.

What is prediabetes?

In prediabetes, blood glucose levels are higher than normal, but not high enough to be defined as diabetes. However, many people with prediabetes go on to develop type 2 diabetes within 10 years. Prediabetes also increases the risk of heart disease and stroke. With modest weight loss and moderate physical activity, people with prediabetes can delay or prevent development of type 2 diabetes.

Teens and diabetes

According to the American Diabetes Association, about 208,000 Americans younger than 20 have diabetes. Most of them have type 1 diabetes. However, type 2 diabetes, a disease that used to be seen primarily in adults ages 45 and older, has become more common in younger people. This is mainly due to increasing rates of obesity in children and teens.

Although the teenage years can be a challenge for any child as he or she goes through sexual and emotional changes, it can be especially trying for adolescents with diabetes. Adolescents want to "fit in." Being different in any way from his or her peers can be emotionally stressful, especially for the teenager.

The teen who previously followed his or her diabetes management plan may now become rebellious and refuse to do so. A teen may also experience denial of the disease, or display increasingly aggressive behavior in reaction to the stress of managing diabetes during a time in life that is challenging enough already.

One aspect of diabetes management, blood sugar control, is especially hard during adolescence. Researchers believe the growth hormone made during adolescence to stimulate bone and muscle growth may also act as an anti-insulin agent. Blood sugar levels become harder to control. This results in levels that swing from too low to too high. This lack of control over blood sugar levels can be very frustrating for your teenager.

Helping your teenager cope

Open communication between you and your teenager with diabetes is important. You should recognize that your teenager wants to be treated as an adult, even if that means letting him or her take charge of his or her own diabetes management plan. Parents should also recognize that teenagers need the following:

  • Spontaneity. Adolescence is a time of spontaneity, such as stopping for pizza after school. However, the teenager with diabetes also needs to realize that managing his or her diabetes successfully will give him or her the flexibility that is craved.

  • Control. Teenagers want to be in charge of their own lives and create their own identities. To achieve this control, the teenager will test limits. However, a teenager with diabetes can learn that to exert control over his or her diabetes means learning to gain control over other parts of life.