Causes of Diabetes

Muchemi points out that a child who all of a sudden drastically loses weight, is thirsty all the time and has to urinate every so often should be checked for diabetes, as these are the typical symptoms of type 1 diabetes.

As a result of children high level of activity, difficulty in dietary restrictions as well as difficulty in enforcing instructions of health professionals, children bring unique challenges to management of their diabetic condition making it difficult to keep blood sugar within the required range.

“So long as children have access to insulin, good eating habits and exercise they can live very normal lives. It is not necessary for the child to live on a diabetic’s diet, they only have to keep away from very refined sugars,” says Muchemi.

Currently, life maintaining Insulin drug in private chemists is around Sh1,200 to Sh200 while in public hospitals, it is approximately Sh500 yet most of the times it is out of stock.

“The insulin should be sold at Sh500 by Novo Nordisk, through a partnership with the government and this arrangement was launched by the Prime Minister Raila Odinga last year,” she says.

Through various initiative, children are able to get the insulin, testing strips, unsticks, HBA 1C (this shows the average sugar levels after every three months) they get all this at no cost.

Diabetes comes due to the lack of insulin, lifestyle issues like alcohol, which damages the pancreas, obesity-increase in weight and less exercise that leads to the accumulation of blood sugars.