Unsweetened life. What awaits parents after a child is diagnosed with diabetes. Expert advice

Natalia Pogodaeva, head of the endocrinology department of NDSL "Okhmatdyt".

Natalia, please tell us what the parents will face after the child is diagnosed with diabetes? Which doctor should be consulted and what treatment can be prescribed?

After the child’s sugar has risen, it must be examined by an endocrinologist. The endocrinologist decides whether to examine the child on an outpatient basis or send him to a specialized hospital for a more in-depth examination. 95-98% of children diagnosed with diabetes should receive insulin therapy for life. Children in Ukraine are provided with insulin free of charge. In the hospital, they undergo a full course of training in the techniques of insulin therapy, self-control and adjustment of insulin dose when changing diets, when changing exercise and when the disease. When a child is discharged from the hospital, he receives a statement with recommended insulin and goes to his endocrinologist at the place of residence, the child is registered, entered in the register and this child is free to buy insulin.

What drugs are provided to children free of charge?

Well, first of all, it’s insulin. Insulins received by children in Ukraine are high-quality insulins that have undergone clinical trials, they are completely harmless and safe. These insulins are used to treat children not only in Ukraine, but also in Europe, America and Asia. Secondly, in addition to insulin, children should be provided with means of self-control - a glucometer and test strips to it. Glucometers and test strips are also purchased for all children in Ukraine, and they receive them for free.

Are there any interruptions in free software?

A few years ago, there were isolated interruptions in the provision of children with insulin, forcing parents to picket the Ministry of Health and other relevant organizations demanding free provision for their children, but recently there have been virtually no interruptions in the provision of children.

And what about free test strips? How much does a child need and how much do they give out?

The number of strips is regulated annually depending on funding and in recent years is about 500-600 strips per year, this is usually not enough, but it is a great support for families. If parents need additional examination, they buy self-monitoring tools for their own money or for local budgets. Blood sugar measurements should be performed 4 to 8 times a day, depending on the needs of the child. How does the life of a child and his family change after diagnosis?

A child with diabetes can perfectly finish school, enter a prestigious university and get any profession, as well as start a family. The quality of his life depends only on how much he cares about his health. The motto of endocrinologists is "diabetes is not a disease, but a way of life", and we try to teach our patients and lead them through life with this slogan.
Diagnosis of diabetes, of course, makes some adjustments in the life of the child and in the life of his family. First of all, the child must be disciplined, we require this from both the child and his parents, he must know what to eat and when, how to adjust the changing sugar, how to behave during exercise. The position of endocrinologists in our school of endocrinology is that a child should not have strict restrictions, he can play sports under the control of blood sugar, he can attend sections, clubs and more. In addition, I think that a child should study in a secondary school. When parents draw up home schooling and separate the child from social life and the team, it only leads to trauma to his psyche. The child feels that she is not like everyone else, she has defects. When a child grows up in a team,

What questions do parents of children ask you most often?

The first question parents ask when they hear a diagnosis is, “Is it possible to treat without insulin? Lifelong insulin therapy? And what other treatments are there? ” Parents are willing to spend money and time to go to another country and treat their child there. But Ukraine is not the most advanced country in the world from some points of view, but our diabetes is treated according to international protocols. In whatever country the patient has diabetes, treatment always begins with insulin therapy. Then, when a differential diagnosis is made between different types of diabetes, if another type of diabetes is confirmed, then another method of treatment is prescribed accordingly. Either diet or tablets. At the beginning, I said that almost all childhood diabetes is insulin-dependent diabetes. And insulin is treated for no more than 100 years. Prior to that, all patients with this diagnosis died, life expectancy ranged from several months to several years. And their quality of life was very low. Now, thanks to modern means of self-control, insulin, continuous improvement of technology in diabetology, the child can live long and happily. In most cases, the life expectancy of a patient with diabetes can exceed the life expectancy of a healthy, sick person.

Natalia, maybe you know about some modern treatments? Please tell.

There are now modern methods of insulin administration not only with syringes or pens, but also with insulin pumps, which greatly facilitate the child’s life, significantly reduce the number of injections and you can choose an individual insulin regimen that is needed specifically for this patient. As an alternative to measuring blood sugar from a finger, there are techniques for continuous glucose monitoring, when the patient has a sensor under the skin and every 3 minutes measures blood sugar and data is recorded on the monitoring screen, sometimes transmitted to the phone. Or if the patient is wearing a pump, then on the pump screen. These self-monitoring tools show whether sugar is falling or rising. And it helps parents take steps to prevent decompensation of carbohydrate metabolism. In many countries of Europe and the former USSR (Kazakhstan, Russia, Estonia) insulin pumps for children are almost entirely funded by the state. Ukraine does not yet have stable funding for the purchase of pumps for children. In some regions, local budgets are used to purchase pump consumables that patients already have. In 2018, 50 insulin pumps were purchased for children from Kyiv suffering from diabetes and consumables for 1 year for 25 children who already had pumps. In 2019, another purchase of pumps for children is planned in Kyiv. This, of course, is not enough. Unfortunately, young patients with diabetes who live in other regions and want to be treated with a pump can still count on the help of charitable foundations. In some regions, local budgets are used to purchase pump consumables that patients already have. In 2018, 50 insulin pumps were purchased for children from Kyiv suffering from diabetes and consumables for 1 year for 25 children who already had pumps. In 2019, another purchase of pumps for children is planned in Kyiv. This, of course, is not enough. Unfortunately, young patients with diabetes who live in other regions and want to be treated with a pump can still count on the help of charitable foundations. In some regions, local budgets are used to purchase pump consumables that patients already have. In 2018, 50 insulin pumps were purchased for children from Kyiv suffering from diabetes and consumables for 1 year for 25 children who already had pumps. In 2019, another purchase of pumps for children is planned in Kyiv. This, of course, is not enough. Unfortunately, young patients with diabetes who live in other regions and want to be treated with a pump can still count on the help of charitable foundations. In 2019, another purchase of pumps for children is planned in Kyiv. This, of course, is not enough. Unfortunately, young patients with diabetes who live in other regions and want to be treated with a pump can still count on the help of charitable foundations. In 2019, another purchase of pumps for children is planned in Kyiv. This, of course, is not enough. Unfortunately, young patients with diabetes who live in other regions and want to be treated with a pump can still count on the help of charitable foundations.

Read also: Unsweetened life. What awaits parents after a child is diagnosed with diabetes. Personal experience.

Ufund has a program to help children with severe type 1 diabetes. Until recently, your donations were used to buy insulin pumps and consumables. The state does not guarantee the purchase of pumps and consumables from the budget. Therefore, we continue the program "Fund. Diabetes". You can help hundreds of children better control their sugar and delay or avoid serious complications such as kidney disease, blindness, heart attacks and strokes.

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