How Is Juvenile Diabetes Treated?
(For More Information, please see Type 1 Diabetes) Kids with diabetes have to give their bodies insulin. When a person with diabetes takes insulin, he is doing the job that the pancreas can’t do anymore. Insulin comes in a liquid that’s injected into the body with a needle. When the insulin goes into the body, it works like insulin from the pancreas, bringing glucose from the blood into the body’s cells so the body can use it for food and function normally. Usually, a person takes insulin two or more times a day, every day. Today, some kids and adults with diabetes get their insulin continuously through a small pump (about the size of a beeper) that they wear. Diet is also used along with insulin to treat diabetes. This doesn’t mean a diet to lose weight like the ones you see advertised on TV. It means eating healthy foods and not going overboard with sweets. Kids with diabetes need to think about what they eat because the sugar in food affects the levels of sugar in the blood. Doctors
