“Is type 1 diabetes serious?”

Very serious because it requires so much work from your daughter but also your entire family, your daughter's teachers and school nurse, any after-school activity supervisors plus a dedicated multispecialty team of diabetes doctor, nurse educators for the PWD (person with diabetes) and their family, certified diabetes dietitian and perhaps social worker or psychologist because all the work to learn about controlling diabetes is difficult. A dedicated multidisciplinary team of health care workers who know about diabetes and these education and support needs can help teach and introduce how best to monitor her sugar levels (finger sticks, meters (SBGM), continuous glucose monitors (CGM) , how much and how to administer her insulin (syringes, pens, pumps) and whether or not she can treat her diabetes with multidose insulin (MDI) or use pumps (continuous glucose subcutaneous insulin infusion (CSII/insulin pumps) and now connect CGMS with CSII and have them talk and self-adjust automatically. There have been amazing advances in diaes care of the past few decades in addition to new, faster and better insulin medication available to ease the tasks and improve glucose control. So make sure you support and assist with her learning needs, make sure you are working with a full multidisciplinary diabetes team of doctor, nurse, dietician and mental health worker to suggest the best ways to learn what everyone needs to learn to optimize care. This helps minimize complications of diabetes, low sugar (hypoglycemic) reactions, DKA and also the long-term complicatoins of high sugar levels and the damage that can affect the eyes, kidneys, nervous system, kidneys and heart/circulation if glucose control isn't optimized. The team can recommend support from local JDRF and ADA programs, camping and family camping support programs, CWD (children with diabetes support website), education brochures and books too. All very important, somewhat complicated especially with newly diagnosed PWD but all very important to optimize health, education and minimize and/or avoid complications with the newest and best choices available. Best of luck. Stuart Brink, MD Senior Endocrinologist, New England Diabetes & Endocrinology Center (NEDEC) c/o NEDEC, 196 Pleasant Street, Newton Centre MA 02459-1815, USA phone 1-781-572-4533, e-mail: stuartbrink@gmail.com

Yes, she must be seen by a pediatric endocrinologist