Endocrinology-Diabetes Questions Diabetes

My 8 year old son weighs 30 kg, and he is always thirsty. Is he diabetic?

In my family we have a history of diabetes from my husband’s side. My son is 8 years old and is currently weighing 30 kgs. Although he is active, I find him unusually thirsty. Could it be a sign of diabetes?

5 Answers

I would start with seeing a pediatrician and having your son undergo blood work to further evaluate.
It is impossible to tell without a fasting blood glucose to start. You can go to any drugstore and buy a finger stick glucose kit. It is inexpensive and the pharmacist should be able to show you how it works. If the blood glucose is below 90, your son does not have diabetes. Yet, It is time for him to be healthy. He is overweight and on time to be healthy. Help him.
With a family history of DM, it would be reasonable to do a HbA1c and random glucose (blood tests) to check.
It maybe... please have him evaluated by your pediatrician. Healthy eating habits and weight are key in preventing disease.
Not necessarily. Increased thirst & urination (called polydipsia & polyuria) are signs of diabetes and are easily checked with a urine test. But there are many other causes of persistent thirst. The is a disease of the pituitary gland in the brain called diabetes incipidous that can cause thirst. (Diabetes is an old Greek word that means "to siphon" & thus to the water loss.) The disease you are thinking of is diabetes mellitus (mellitus is a Latin word that means sweet like honey-Yes they discovered that the urine was sweet by tasting it). Diabetes incipidous is unrelated to diabetes mellitus. Incipidous is a Latin word from which we get our word incipid (tasteless or blah). The most common cause of thirst in a child you childs age though is habit. There are some simple tests that can differentiate these & other causes of constant thirst. See you Dr. & get tested as some of these problems are benign & some can become life threatening.