2023-11-14 19:56:09
Diabetes, as a chronic disease, has reached epidemic levels. It occurs when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin or the body is unable to use it effectively. AIM spoke with two insulin-dependent adolescents. “Sometimes I tell my friends that I have diabetes so they can help me if I need it,” Micaela said.
Adolescence in itself is usually a complicated stage in the lives of young people; But also going through it with diabetes entails other responsibilities, from preparing the backpack with everything necessary to carry out the usual activities, without forgetting to also carry in it all the necessary elements to carry out the controls, candy in case there is an imbalance in sugar; until you start learning how to prepare healthy foods to maintain a good quality of life.
Bruno is 17 years old and learned about his pathology three years ago: “I was losing a lot of weight and I was very thirsty, I ate what I wanted and I didn’t gain weight; my parents thought he was just part of adolescence; “They still took me to the doctor and with some blood tests they discovered that I am diabetic.”
“The first time I was very angry about the controls, the sugar measurements and the medication, because this changes your life, you have to be aware of what happens to you all day long.” But over time, “I learned to live with it, I pay attention to whether my sugar is very low or very high. Also, my mom prepares healthy meals for me and is teaching me how to prepare them for when I am older and live alone; I play basketball, but if I don’t feel well, I tell the coach or my friends,” the young man told this Agency.
For her part, Micaela is 15 years old and has been diabetic since she was five, “my fear is always having hypoglycemia,” a condition characterized by low blood glucose levels. “When I suffer these peaks, I sweat a lot or feel weak, sometimes I faint and end up hospitalized. Because of the fear of hypoglycemia, I generally feel anxious.”
“Sometimes I tell my friends that I have diabetes so they can help me if I need it, although I am embarrassed when I get hypoglycemia spikes in front of them or in places where they don’t know me.” Faced with this situation, Micaela has found mechanisms to try to prevent these episodes from happening, “before going to school or doing any activity, I check my blood glucose level. I always have sweets in my backpack, when I need it I eat one, I wait fifteen minutes and measure my glucose level again and, if it’s still low, I eat another candy; Also, I always carry my medication with me in case a more serious situation arises, along with a kind of card where it says that I am diabetic, my information and who to call,” the teenager explained to this Agency.
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