Signs of Juvenile Diabetes That Can Kill You

My friends and I went to hear one of our favorite local bands play one night at a small club. These guys were rock solid. I was sure they were going to go big time.Halfway through their second set, however, something started to not feel right. It was the singer. In between one of the songs he started talking. His words were barely intelligible, and he seemed disoriented, frightened even.Then he fell.His band mates rushed to his aid, as did the manager of the band. My friend was a paramedic, so he jumped onto the stage to see if he could help. The young singer was unconscious.An ambulance was called and he was whisked away to the hospital. The band played a couple more songs that the bass player sang, but it was clear the energy for the night was gone.Some people went to the hospital, while others just went home.When the dust settled, it turned out the young man, whose name was Clay, was a Type 1 diabetic. The band had been traveling heavily and he had not been taking care of his condition. His coma lasted about 45 minutes, but the ER doctor said it could have been much worse.So, what are the signs of juvenile diabetes? How can you tell if you've got it?Most people with juvenile diabetes report a feeling of extreme thirst that cannot be quenched. The sugar that builds up in your blood pulls water from your body tissues. This makes you constantly thirsty.Also, since you're drinking a lot more water, you'll probably also notice that you're urinating a whole lot more.


You might also find you are incredibly hungry and, even though you seem to eat constantly, you keep losing weight. People might tell you that you have a tapeworm. This is a far worse condition, however.You see, when you have juvenile diabetes, the body stops using sugar for fuel, to power the body and give you energy. Instead, the body turns to fat stores and muscle tissue for its energy, meaning your metabolism drops making you very tired and lethargic all the time.One of the more dangerous signs of juvenile diabetes is vision loss. When your blood sugar is very low or very high, water gets pulled into the lens of the eye which causes your vision to blur. Typically, when the blood sugar returns to normal, so does the vision.Over time, however, if this condition is not properly treated, a condition known as retinopathy may develop, which means the blood flow to the retina is slowed or stopped. This can cause permanent blindness.Why did Clay, the singer from the band, go into a coma? We later learned he had developed a condition called diabetic ketoacidosis. This results when the body's acids are allowed to build up in the bloodstream.Since Clay wasn't taking his insulin as prescribed, his acids reached levels they shouldn't have, and the result was disorientation and a coma. People have died from this very condition.