Arushi Bidhuri
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Written By: Arushi Bidhuri | Updated : December 18, 2020 9:10 AM IST
Also known as neonatal diabetes, congenital diabetes is a rare type of diabetes generally affects children under six months of age.
Diabetes is one of the most prevailing diseases in the world that affects millions of people worldwide. This debilitating disease can also affect children. A rare form of the disease called congenital diabetes is usually diagnosed in children. We talked to Dr Altamash Shaikh, Consultant Endocrinologist, Diabetologist and Metabolic Physician, Masina Hospital, Mumbai, to understand everything about the disease and its adverse effects. Here's what he has to say.
Dr Shaikh defines congenital diabetes as the "diabetes of infancy." Also known as neonatal diabetes, this is a rare type of the disease that generally affects children under six months of age.
"It happens due to the slow production of insulin in the system. There is a genetic defect called monogenetic type in neonatal diabetes (ND). It is often misdiagnosed as type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM), which is due to the autoimmune destruction of the pancreas and leads to absolute no insulin production in the body," he explained.
Of course, it can be devastating for parents to hear that their child is suffering from diabetes, but the good news is that early diagnosis can help. Early recognition, counselling and treatment can give your child a good quality of life.
"The child needs to get proper genetic testing, which will help predict its clinical course. It will also allow the parents to know about the possible additional clinical features. Once the diagnosis is certain, parents and family can be made further aware and counselled regarding line and length of treatment," said the expert.
The treatment and diagnosis also depend on the type of neonatal diabetes that has affected the child. The two main types of neonatal diabetes include transient neonatal diabetes mellitus (TNDB) and permanent neonatal diabetes mellitus (PNDB).
With proper treatment, "neonatal diabetes may disappear in early age, but in some cases, it might return later in life, usually during adolescence."
This type of the disease affects children within the first few weeks of life and is transient in nature. The child may go into remission within a few weeks (12 weeks), usually 18 months, with a possible relapse or recurrence to permanent diabetes in adolescence or adulthood. The family must know of the symptoms and warning signs. Children may not need any treatment in the interim until the disease recurs.
PNDB appears within the first six months of childbirth and persists for a long time. Some of the symptoms of this type of neonatal diabetes include stunted growth (low weight) before birth followed by dehydration, failure to thrive in infancy, failure to gain weight, could be a slow walker, learner and may even be affected by epilepsy.
"When tested for genes, mutations in the KCNJ11 or ABCC8 or other dozen genes, causing permanent neonatal diabetes may be found," said the Diabetologist.
Timely diagnosis and treatment are extremely important for your child. Once the diagnosis by genetics is done, your child may be started on "an oral tablet called glibenclamide (sulfonylurea group of drug used in adults for diabetes). Untreated ND in children can be detrimental to their health.
