Kids and Type 1 diabetes: a "doable" learning curve for families

It’s a lot to learn – and it’s doable.

That’s the message families of children with Type 1 diabetes receive when they arrive at Quinte Health’s diabetes clinic at Belleville General Hospital.

It’s where young patients and their parents or guardians have access to dietitians, nursing care, a social worker, and pediatricians.

Type 1 diabetes, once called juvenile diabetes, is an autoimmune disease. Insulin is a hormone that regulates glucose, a sugar, in the bloodstream. People with Type 1 diabetes can’t produce insulin.

The more common form, Type 2 diabetes, formerly adult-onset diabetes occurs when the body can’t use insulin correctly. The blood’s sugar level increases, which can lead to multiple health problems.

A third form is genetic.

It can be difficult to detect early signs of T