Neurocognitive Outcomes of Type 1 Diabetes in Children - Research Paper Example

The exact causes of T1DM are still unknown although several studies agreed that genetic predisposition and environmental factors may start autoimmune destruction of the beta cells that soon results to dependence on insulin treatment (Ichinose, Kawasaki, & Eguchi, 2007, p. 554; Patterson et al., 2014, p. 162). It is characteristic of T1DM for symptoms to develop quickly especially in young people because of their developmental stage (Bui & Daneman, 2006, p. 114; Ho et al., 2008, p. 385).

T1DM is a chronic metabolic illness characterized by high blood glucose levels (or hyperglycemia) due to the body’s inability to create insulin. Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas, which is responsible for managing blood glucose levels through the regulation of glucose uptake from blood into storage cells. High blood glucose levels may damage several organs, including the kidney (Bouhanick et al., 2003; Kitada et al., 2014), liver (Ling et al., 2003), pancreas (Cantarovich & Perrone, 2012), and the brain (Kimura et al., 2007). The main symptoms of diabetes include weight loss, polyuria and the presence of sugar in the urine (Dabelea et al., 1999, p. 710; Haller, Atkinson, & Schatz, 2005, p. 1563). T1DM further affects the brain through hypoglycemia or extremely low blood glucose levels.

Hypoglycemia is a common insulin-induced problem in managing T1DM (Jones & Davis, 2003, p. 143).T1DM can produce lasting negative long-term neurocognitive effects for children, although these effects need further clinical studies and animal experimental studies to understand how they happen. The prevalence of Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus has been steadily rising for many countries with a general yearly increase of around 3% to 5% in Canada (Foulds et al., 2012, p. 128; Patterson et al., 2014, p. 162).  Patterson et al. (2014) presented the findings of the 2013 International Diabetes Federation (IDF) Atlas that estimated the incidence of T1DM all over the world for children below 15 years old.