Complications of diabetes in children

Pediatrician Jamie Wood, MD Clinical Diabestes, shares advice for parents on the most common complications that children with diabetes may face
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Complications of diabetes in children

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The first are acute complications, which include low blood sugars – severe low blood sugars – hypoglycemia and high blood sugars are hyperglycemia. And in pediatrics we’re fortunate in that most children do not have the second type of complications, which are chronic complications. So we spend most of our time talking about avoidance of the severe low blood sugars and high blood sugars that are high enough that need medical attention. Chronic complications is a topic that we talk very carefully about with children in that we don’t want them to be fearful of complications, it’s something that they have a hard time understanding. Chronic complications of diabetes include heart disease, kidney disease, eye disease, nerve disease and they’re very, very frightening for a young child to think about and for a family or parents to think about. So how I talk about long term complications with a family is by saying that we in modern medicine with modern diabetes therapies, that we can keep a child happy and healthy and live a very long and normal life without complications. So I talk about it more as a prevention in that we can prevent these from happing. If they do happen there are also good treatments but really the important part is to prevent them by always maintaining good blood sugar control.

Pediatrician Jamie Wood, MD Clinical Diabestes, shares advice for parents on the most common complications that children with diabetes may face

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Jamie R. Wood, MD

Pediatrician, Clinical Diabetes, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles

Dr. Jamie Wood was born and raised in Vermont, where she also attended medical school. She completed her pediatric residency at Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio, and her endocrine fellowship at Children’s Hospital Boston and the Joslin Diabetes Center of Harvard University. She moved to the Los Angeles area in 2008 and is now the Director of Clinical Diabetes Programs at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. Dr. Wood’s specialty is the care of youth with type 1 and type 2 diabetes—a field she fell in love with during a medical student rotation at a summer camp for youth with diabetes.  She also enjoys gardening, cooking, hiking, and playing with her husband and two children, Jackson and Olivia.

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Transcription: 
The first are acute complications, which include low blood sugars – severe low blood sugars – hypoglycemia and high blood sugars are hyperglycemia. And in pediatrics we’re fortunate in that most children do not have the second type of complications, which are chronic complications. So we spend most of our time talking about avoidance of the severe low blood sugars and high blood sugars that are high enough that need medical attention. Chronic complications is a topic that we talk very carefully about with children in that we don’t want them to be fearful of complications, it’s something that they have a hard time understanding. Chronic complications of diabetes include heart disease, kidney disease, eye disease, nerve disease and they’re very, very frightening for a young child to think about and for a family or parents to think about. So how I talk about long term complications with a family is by saying that we in modern medicine with modern diabetes therapies, that we can keep a child happy and healthy and live a very long and normal life without complications. So I talk about it more as a prevention in that we can prevent these from happing. If they do happen there are also good treatments but really the important part is to prevent them by always maintaining good blood sugar control.