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Children with Diabetes
July 8, 2010 Updated Jul 8, 2010 at 4:03 PM EDT

Over 20 million people in the united states alone suffer from diabetes, many of whom are diagnosed when they're just children. What are the warning signs and how important are they to recognize? How can you tell if a child is diabetic? The signs can be subtle, that's the problem. Michael Ziegler, MD. with the Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, says parents need to keep a watchful eye "So, probably one of the most important things I can pass on to parents is that if your child has symptoms it may not be absolutely acute. They may be more long term, but dwindling, like fatigue or having to drink a lot of water or having to pee a lot. and you just have to sort of pay attention to those subtleties." If you learn that your child has diabetes, Dr. Ziegler says it's important for parents to hit the books "You're going to become an expert on diabetes. You're gonna learn as much as a doctor knows and you're gonna learn how to treat yourself. And you're gonna learn how to jump on top of it, so it doesn't jump on top of you." ABOUT ONE IN EVERY 500 CHILDREN HAS TYPE-ONE DIABETES.

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