Diabetes type 1 has been increasingly found in children and teenagers

by Charles roring

Type 1 diabetes occurs when pancreas as the factory that produces insuline cannot produce it anymore. As a result, our bodies are lack of insulin. It was called juvenile diabetes because it had increasingly been found in young age patients. This terminology has been abandoned as type 1 diabetes can also be found in adult patients. From all the patients of diabetes, 5 - 10% of them suffer type 1 diabetes.
Why young age patients (children and teenagers) suffer from type 1 diabetes?
This is an interesting question. Type 1 diabetes is caused by genes and things like viruses and toxins. Children whose parents suffer from diabetes might also develop this disease. While we cannot control our genes, we still can control our lifestyle. By being active we can increase teenagers can increase their immune system so that their body metabolism will enable the pancreas to function properly.
Unfortunately, the lifestyle of today's children and young teenagers is different from the lifestyle of children some one hundred years ago. In the past, children, teenagers and young adults were very active. They liked to play. They swam in the river, at sea. They ran at schoolyard playing football.
Modern children and teenagers who live play football, drive race formula 1, involve in bloody battle against allien monsters from other planets. All of these activities are conducted in front of computer screen. In other words they are not physically active. They have become generations of coach potato, who do not have to walk to TV set to turn up its volume because there is a remote controller near them. They do not have to go to the kitchen to drink a glass of water because there is a coolbox filled with 10 cans of sweet softdrinks, like Sprite or Coca-cola.
When they go out whether with friends or parents, they eat fast food that contains high calories, fat, and salt. Overweight children will have problems in their body metabolism.
Children and teenagers like to play video-games for hours. They spend less energy while sitting. In the contrary, they eat foods that contain fat. Overweight children and teenagers who play violent video-games do not realize that emotionally they are in stress condition. Virtual dangerous situation, or violent scenes, they see on TV or computer screen stimulate their, body for action- fight or flight.
In response to the perceived danger or violent actions from their enemies, the pituitary gland at the base of the skull instructs or triggers the adrenal glands by the kidneys to release the hormone adrenaline which causes the rise of blood pressure. As a response to these danger situation and violent attacks from virtual monsters in the video-games, the the liver will release glucose from its stored form, glycogen. The problem is that the energy that has been released is not spent on physical activities. The children are playing video-games. They are not really in dangerous situation. The real danger is the reaction that occurs in their body. The release of hormone adrenaline that also triggers the release of glucose into the blood. Frequent occurances of high blood sugar increase stress or pressure on pancrease. Beta cells in the islets of Langerhans must frequently produce insulin to balance the blood sugar level in the body. Prolonged stress to pancreas will cause disorders. When pancrease cannot produce sufficient amount of insuline for our body, the onset of diabetes will take place.
Children and teenagers who are having the risk for or suffer type 1 diabetes must keep their blood glucose close to normal level. In order to achieve this, they have to make healthy food choices, be physically active everyday, control their weight, and take medicines as well as regularly check their blood glucose.