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Childhood diabetes: How important is lifestyle and diet in dealing with the condition?

It is advisable to consume high fibre complex carbohydrate foods.

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Written By: Aishwarya Iyer | Published : July 2, 2018 11:19 AM IST

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Childhood diabetes is a matter of huge concern. Parents or pregnant women often wonder if childhood diabetes is caused due to lifestyle disorders. Dr Pradeep Mahajan, Regenerative Medicine researcher, Adigos Stem Cells answers all our queries.

'Lifestyle factors tend to play a role in the occurrence of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus that is common in adults. Childhood diabetes or Type 1 Diabetes is predominantly a condition that occurs due to genetic and environmental factors as well as the disorder of immune mechanisms. While the exact mechanism is not clearly known, Type 1 diabetes results due to the destruction of pancreatic islet cells the cells responsible for insulin production, thereby causing absolute insulin deficiency.'

Can diet control prove to be helpful?

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Yes, diet plays a very important role in preventing fluctuation of glucose levels in diabetic individuals. Food is a major concern for parents with children suffering from type 1 diabetes, in particular, tend to have specific tastes and can be quite demanding.

  • Meal planning can get tricky, but should be consistent, flexible, and supply the necessary nutrients.
  • The aim of diet planning is to satisfy the child's appetite along with balancing sugar and promoting normal growth and development.
  • Broadly, it is advisable to consume high fibre complex carbohydrate foods.
  • Also include green leafy vegetables, beans and legumes, selected fruits and berries etc. It is mandatory to avoid refined sugars (found in flours/ bread, processed and packaged foods like chips etc.), an excess of saturated fats (found in butter/margarine etc.), starchy grains and vegetables.
  • Through a combination of cell-based therapy, diet modification and exercise, it is possible to gain long-term control over Type 1 Diabetes and enable our children to lead a comfortable, healthy, long life.

Read: Which of these 10 early symptoms of diabetes do you have?

Treatment

Conventional treatment involves the use of insulin/oral medicines, a dose of which is adjusted based on regular blood glucose monitoring. Also, continuous monitoring of the general condition of the patient is of paramount importance so as to assess the development of complications.

'However, conventional insulin therapy is a lifelong treatment as the core issue of pancreatic cell destruction is not addressed. This is where cell-based therapy a novel therapeutic approach that utilizes the innate healing potential of the human body proves to be beneficial. A cell-based approach to insulin replacement has been shown to ultimately improve glucose control in patients with type 1 diabetes. The biggest advantage of this form of therapy is that cells are obtained from the patients' own the body thus results achieved are safe and effective in the long term,' explained Dr Mahajan.

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Aishwarya Iyer

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