created: 29.09.2004
last modified: 29.09.2004
Recently Johnny is thirsty all the time. He could drink a whole lake! At school he often needs do a quick runner to the loo. His friends are wondering, because it's been ages since he went skateboarding with them. Although he used to be the first in the half pipe back in the days… Instead, he keeps staying at home more and more often. He wants to sleep all day long and feels like an old grand-pa: Tired, wrecked and without motivation. After a few weeks, his mother sends Johnny to the doctor's. The doc gets pretty alerted when he hears the symptoms and after a blood test the diagnosis is clear: Johnny has diabetes.
Surely you know the symptoms Johnny is complaining about from what you've experienced yourself. Heads up buddy, you're not the only one: in Germany alone there are 20.000 kids who have diabetes, as the experts call it. But hang on, what's that actually, "diabetes"?
You constantly need energy
Our body needs a certain amount of energy in order to stay fit. Whether it's sport or a difficult maths problem that gets your wires humming, everything eats up energy! We even lose energy when we sleep!
An important "supplier" for energy is sugar. Whenever we eat something, the sugar from the food reaches the blood, and then from there it gets transported to the body cells where it is transformed into energy.
Insulin - your energy-provider
The glucose transport into our cells only works with a certain substance. And that's insulin. It sees to it, that our cells always get enough sugar and we get enough energy. Normally this insulin is produced in the pancreas (that's an organ in your belly). If the pancreas stops producing insulin, you get what the doctors call "diabetes". That means the sugar from the food reaches the blood, but can't be brought into the cells, because our little helper insulin is not there. So you can see, without insulin there's no energy available.
You're a so-called type-1-diabetic: Your pancreas doesn't produce any insulin any more. Many other people - the type-2-diabetics - produce insulin but they still have diabetes. That's because they don't produce enough insulin or because the insulin doesn't transport the sugar into the cells.
New power by injecting insulin
Your body doesn't produce insulin, which means you have to inject it!
- "Inject"? Did somebody say, "INJECT"??
Hey, don't get scared, it doesn't hurt! Maybe you don't believe that at the moment, but read on a little bit and you will see.
Surely your doctor already told you how that works. Then the insulin can fulfil its duty as an energy provider in your body again. And believe it, it really doesn't hurt, it's just a tiny stitch and you'll get used to it like brushing your teeth every day. If you wouldn't inject insulin you wouldn't be able to build up energy and you would feel worse and worse! So take good care of yourself and your energy supply!
To check how much insulin your body has at the moment you need to test a little drop of your blood every day. With a test strip or a blood glucose tester you can find out how much sugar is in your blood. That's what you call a blood glucose test. If you have too much sugar in your blood, it means the sugar doesn't get transported into the cells where it can be transformed into energy. That's the case if there's not enough insulin in your blood to bring the sugar to the cells. And guess what? The blood glucose test is completely harmless as well!
Why did I get diabetes?
You've asked yourself that question before, haven't you? One thing first: It's not your fault that you have diabetes. Maybe if somebody has holes in his teeth, then it's his fault because he didn't take care of them. But if you, as a type-1-diabetic, are not able to produce any insulin any more, that's definitely not your fault. That's like getting a mole for example, it's just there the other day. And your buddies don't need to worry: diabetes is not infectious!
Living with diabetes
Well, you'll have diabetes all your life. But don't get scared, if you follow a few simple rules you won't mind at all. diabetes is now a part of you and you need to pay attention to it! Your doctor will examine you regularly and help you to fill up your energy reserves. Sometimes you might have to take medicine, too. But if you always take care that there's enough insulin in your body, you can do everything your friends do, without noticing that you are diabetic.
And something else: nobody can see or tell you're diabetic. But you may no longer stuff yourself with food without holding yourself back. Then you'd get too much sugar in your blood, that can't be turned into energy because there's not enough insulin.
But hey, here's the good news: You won't have to do completely without your favourite burger or chocolate!
