When No One Thinks to Check for Type 1 Diabetes

In my own family, I have seen how easy it is for Type 1 diabetes to be missed when people do not expect children to have diabetes.

My uncle has twin children. For a long time, they kept getting sick. They would feel unwell, faint at school and have symptoms that kept coming back. They were taken to small clinics several times, where they would be examined, treated for possible infections and sent home.

But no one seemed to ask whether the problem could be Type 1 diabetes.

That is part of the problem in many communities. A lot of people still think diabetes is something that only affects older people, people who are overweight, or adults who develop Type 2 diabetes. Many families do not know that Type 1 diabetes can affect children, teenagers and even very young children.

The twins continued to struggle. There were episodes of frequent urination, problems with their vision and repeated illness, but the family still did not have an answer.

Eventually, one of the twins became so sick that they were admitted to hospital with diabetic ketoacidosis. It was during that admission that the doctors finally looked at the full picture and the family learned that the children were living with Type 1 diabetes.

Even after the diagnosis, there was another challenge: accepting what the diagnosis meant.

My uncle struggled with the idea that the children would need ongoing diabetes care and medication. I do not know whether it was fear, denial, lack of information, or simply how overwhelming the diagnosis felt. But because I also live with Type 1 diabetes, I had to step in and tell him clearly: you have to listen to the doctors. These children need proper treatment. This is not something that can simply be ignored and hoped away.

That experience showed me that the problem is not only the cost of treatment. It is also knowledge.

Parents need to know the warning signs of Type 1 diabetes. Communities need to know that children can develop it. And healthcare workers in small clinics need to think about diabetes when a child keeps returning with symptoms such as extreme thirst, frequent urination, weight loss, weakness, blurred vision, fainting or repeated unexplained illness.

A family should not have to wait for a child to develop DKA before Type 1 diabetes is considered.

In under-resourced communities, delays can happen because people simply do not know what to look for. Sometimes the first person who connects the symptoms to diabetes is another person already living with the condition.

That should not be the system.

This is why awareness matters. Earlier recognition can mean earlier testing, earlier treatment and a safer start to life with Type 1 diabetes.