Doctors and health researchers don’t fully know what causes diabetes mellitus. They know what happens in diabetes, and they’ve identified potential risk factors, especially for type 2 diabetes, but the causes of diabetes remain rather elusive. Health professionals aren’t completely in the dark regarding diabetes causes, though. There are sound theories, and research into what causes diabetes mellitus is ongoing. Here’s a look at factors that have been identified as possible causes of diabetes.

Knowing Diabetes Causes Means Knowing What Happens in Diabetes

Diabetes has three primary forms:

• Type 1
• Type 2
• Gestational

Diabetes involves hyperglycemia, or high blood glucose (sugar) levels. Under healthy circumstances, carbohydrates you eat are digested into sugar that the cells of the body need for energy. Glucose can’t enter the cells by itself but needs a hormone called insulin, produced in the pancreas, to open a path into the cells. In all types of diabetes, there’s a problem with the function of insulin and glucose can’t get into the cells. It accumulates in the bloodstream which results in hyperglycemia.

This is what happens in diabetes. An important question is why does it happen? What are the causes of diabetes? The causes discussed below are potential causes of diabetes in children and causes of diabetes in adults. Type 1 diabetes most commonly develops by the 20’s and type 2 has a higher rate of onset over the age of 45, but both types of diabetes can develop at any age and thus the causes apply to all ages.

Possible Type 1 Diabetes Causes

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disorder. It develops when the body’s immune system attacks the pancreas, the organ that produces insulin. Once the insulin-producing beta cells within the pancreas are destroyed, they don’t come back. The body is unable to make the insulin it needs to move blood sugar into cells.

Destruction of the pancreas’s beta cells by the immune system is the direct cause of type 1 diabetes. But why does the immune system turn on its own body? Possible type 1 diabetes causes are

• Genetic predisposition
• Exposure to some viruses, such as mumps or coxsackie
• Exposure to certain environmental toxins

Possible Causes of Diabetes Type 2

Type 2 diabetes isn’t an autoimmune disorder but instead develops due largely to external factors ("What Is the Difference Between Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes?"). In type 2, the pancreas does produce insulin, but either it doesn’t make enough insulin to do the job, or the body doesn’t use it efficiently.

Doctors know some potential type 2 diabetes causes, but because more study is needed, they are hesitant to declare them as definitive causes. Instead, these are considered risk factors. If someone has any of these factors, he or she is at risk of diabetes:

• Being overweight or obese
• Poor diet low in nutrition, high in processed, fatty, sugary foods and drinks
• Sedentary lifestyle
• Family history of diabetes

Possible Gestational Diabetes Causes

Gestational diabetes is a temporary form of diabetes that develops during pregnancy and disappears within six weeks after delivery. While it’s unclear why it happens, the cause of gestational diabetes is hormonal. The placenta (the organ that nourishes the baby during development) makes a hormone that makes it difficult for the mother’s body to absorb glucose. In gestational diabetes, the mother’s pancreas doesn’t make the extra insulin required to compensate for the hormones secreted by the placenta.

Medications Causing Diabetes

In addition to the three primary types of diabetes, there are extremely rare forms that have different causes. Many of these are developed from drugs causing diabetes.

Some medications decrease the body’s ability to control blood sugar by causing insulin resistance or interfering in insulin secretion. Examples of medications causing diabetes include:

• Cardiovascular medications (thiazide diuretics, beta-blockers, and statins)
• Steroids known as glucosteroids (not the performance-enhancing steroids)
• Antipsychotics and atypical antipsychotics (common types of psychiatric medications)
• Immunosuppressive agents (used in organ transplants)
• Protease inhibitors (HIV medication)
• Pentamide (for certain types of pneumonia)

Because of the medications used, a disease called diabetes insipidus warrants mentioning. Despite its name, it’s unrelated to diabetes mellitus. The diseases share the name “diabetes” because of the increased urination and excessive thirst that are part of each illness.

Drugs causing diabetes insipidus include the antiviral medications cidofovir and foscamet (Foscavir) as well as lithium. Lithium is a medication used to treat bipolar disorder, depression, schizophrenia, eating disorders, and the aggressive behavior that is sometimes part of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Lithium treats many other non-psychiatric conditions, too. People taking lithium should have their blood checked approximately every six months (intervals vary).

Diabetes is a disease that can cause other serious health problems such as heart disease, nerve damage (which can lead to foot and even leg amputations), blindness, and kidney failure. Diabetes is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States (Judd, 2011). Therefore, researchers are seeking the cause. Knowing the cause can help people stop diabetes before it starts.

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Anxiety and diabetic neuropathy have a strong relationship, and it’s not mere coincidence that someone experiencing pain from nerve damage also lives with anxiety. People with diabetic nerve pain have more anxiety than people without such pain. One study found that nearly 27 percent of participants dealing with pain from diabetic neuropathy also had anxiety (Gore et al., 2005). Let’s look at the relationship between diabetic neuropathy and anxiety and what helps both pain and anxiety.

The Relationship Between Anxiety and Diabetic Neuropathy

Diabetic neuropathy causes anxiety, and pain levels impact anxiety levels. When pain is mild, anxiety is likewise mild. Severe pain typically causes severe anxiety. Anxiety, in turn, exacerbates nerve pain. While anxiety can’t cause neuropathy, it does make the experience of pain much worse.

When someone is living with diabetes, pain from nerve damage, and resulting anxiety, their quality of life diminishes. Mobility often becomes difficult, which restricts activity. Sometimes, people are forced to stop working and engaging in other physical activities. Sleep problems frequently accompany neuropathy and anxiety, as both make rest elusive. Neuropathy goes beyond nerve pain to cause many problems that decrease overall enjoyment of life.

As the quality of life declines, fear grows. People begin to have anxious thoughts about worsening pain, high blood sugar, injury, and negative judgment by others, any of which can cause avoidance of many activities. Avoidance sometimes leads to inactivity, disability, and isolation. Experiencing diabetic neuropathy, anxiety, and fear can be devastating.

Because of the potential damage caused by these medical and mental health conditions, researchers are trying to determine why there is such a strong correlation between anxiety and pain caused by nerve damage in diabetes. Convinced that there are additional factors at work, researchers have been studying the connection. A Harvard Mental Health Letter published in 2010 reports that reasons for the strong connection between anxiety and diabetic pain lie in the brain.

• The part of the brain known as the somatosensory cortex interprets touch and other sensations. It interacts with the amygdala, anterior cingulate gyrus, and hypothalamus, areas that are at work in anxiety, stress, emotional experiences, physical and mental pain.
• The neurotransmitters serotonin and norepinephrine are involved in both pain and anxiety.

The crossover in the brain of the mechanisms behind nerve pain and anxiety helps explain the relationship between them. It also shows that experiencing fear and anxiety alongside neuropathy is normal and a function of how the brain and body work. People with diabetic nerve damage who also live with anxiety and fear aren’t creating problems.

These conditions are very difficult to live with on their own, and when combined, quality of life often plummets. Treating both anxiety and diabetic neuropathy is essential to maintain physical and mental health ("What Treatment for Diabetic Nerve Pain Is Available? ").

Treatment That Helps Anxiety and Neuropathy

An important treatment component is pain management for diabetic neuropathy. As pain improves, anxiety also improves. Pain isn’t the only thing to be treated, however. Treating the whole person helps diabetic neuropathy and anxiety. Interventions that target pain, specific anxieties and fears, and sleep problems will improve quality of life and functioning.

Some helpful treatment approaches include

• Medication
• Education to learn coping skills for living with pain and anxiety
• Psychotherapy (mental health therapy with a counselor or therapist); cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) has been shown to improve the perception of pain as well as anxiety
• Exercise/regular physical activity
• Relaxation techniques (mindfulness, yoga, progressive muscle relaxation)
• Hypnosis with a therapist

When nerve pain is severe, anxiety tends to be severe as well. Likewise, when one is mild, so is the other. The techniques listed can help improve someone’s experience with anxiety and neuropathy by reducing their intensity.

Understanding your own nerve damage and pain as well as your specific worries and fears will help you, your doctor, and your therapist tailor interventions to your unique needs. A variety of approaches allows you to discover what treatment helps the most to minimize anxiety and diabetic neuropathy.

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Antidepressants and type 2 diabetes are linked. There is a mutual risk between diabetes and depression so that someone with one of these life-altering conditions has an increased risk of developing the other. This bi-directional relationship between the illnesses has led many to wonder if the treatment for one impacts the other; after all, a significant amount of people with type 2 diabetes are also taking antidepressants. Do antidepressants cause type 2 diabetes?

In seeking an answer to this important question, researchers have discovered that antidepressants do affect diabetes. The picture is still unclear, however, because the effects of this type of psychiatric medication on diabetes vary:

• Some types of antidepressants are harmful to diabetes, lowering glucose control and increasing hyperglycemia.
• Some antidepressants improve diabetes by increasing glucose control.
• Others have mixed results, sometimes worsening and sometimes improving depression.

Let’s examine what researchers know thus far regarding antidepressants and diabetes type 2.

Antidepressants and the Risk of Type 2 Diabetes

Medication for depression can contribute to the development of new diabetes, and it can also worsen existing diabetes. Numerous studies have uncovered three connections:

• Weight gain caused by antidepressants
• Medication’s negative effect on glucose control
• Skyrocketing hypoglycemia

Many antidepressants cause significant weight gain ("Antidepressants and Weight Gain – SSRIs and Weight Gain"). Overweight and obesity are major risk factors for type 2 diabetes. It’s possible that without the weight gain, antidepressants wouldn’t be a potential cause of diabetes. Complicating things, though, is the speculation that certain antidepressants affect blood glucose regardless of weight gain. Some people who don’t gain weight on antidepressants develop diabetes nonetheless.

Whether it’s via weight gain or direct effect, antidepressants often inhibit glucose control. Glucose control refers to the body’s ability to keep blood sugar levels within a healthy range, neither climbing too high nor dropping too low. Antidepressants can interfere in the body’s glucose regulation, which leads to dangerous spikes and drops.

Hypoglycemia is high blood glucose (blood sugar). For someone with diabetes, blood sugar levels should be 180 mg/dL or less. Some antidepressants can cause blood sugar to spike to 500 mg/dL or more, a very dangerous level.

While studies have identified these negative effects, research has also shown that some antidepressants can sometimes help diabetes.

Can Antidepressants Improve Diabetes?

Some medications for depression have been shown to improve, not worsen, glycemic control. Still others lead to improved insulin sensitivity by helping the body use insulin to carry glucose into cells more efficiently, which reduces the risk for hyperglycemia.

Part of the reason for improvement may be that receiving depression treatment in general leads to improved depression symptoms and positive lifestyle and behavior changes. When depression improves, people are more likely to eat nutritiously, exercise, take necessary medications (especially for diabetes), and monitor their blood glucose levels. This, in turn, improves diabetes.

The mixed effects of antidepressants lead to more questions. Could it be possible that the type of antidepressant taken for depression makes a difference?

Effects of Antidepressants on Type 2 Diabetes: Type of Antidepressant Might Matter

Doctors prescribe different classes of antidepressants to treat depression, plus several different medications exist within each class. The following lists aren’t exhaustive, as there are other classes of antidepressants and numerous other individual medications, but they do highlight many antidepressants researched thus far and discovered to impact diabetes.

Antidepressants That Seem To Improve Type 2 Diabetes

Several studies indicate that the best antidepressant medication for diabetes may be the group known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). Among them:

• citalopram (Celexa)
• escitalopram (Lexapro)
• fluoxetine (Prozac)
• paroxetine (Paxil)
• sertraline (Zoloft)

Antidepressants That Might Cause or Worsen Diabetes

Studies indicate that the most detrimental depression medications include tricyclic antidepressants and noradrenergic antidepressants. Additionally, many combination treatments, regardless of the drugs used, increase the risk of developing or complicating diabetes. Taking high dosages of medication and/or taking medication for long periods of time increase the diabetes risk as well.  Anything that leads to weight gain is also problematic.

Some tricyclic antidepressants are

• amitriptyline (Elavil)
• desipramine (Norpramin)
• doxepin (Sinequan)
• imipramine (Iofranil)
• nortriptyline (Pamelor)

Examples of noradrenergic antidepressants:

• nefazodone (Serzone)
• vortioxetine (Trintellix)

Antidepressants with No Apparent Effects on Diabetes

The following antidepressants didn’t show an increased risk for the development of diabetes:

• venlafaxine (Effexor); SNRI
• fluoxetine (Prozac, Sarafem); SSRI
• citalopram (Celexa); SSRI
• mirtazapine (Remeron); Tetracyclic Antidepressant

Enough studies have found a link between antidepressants and diabetes that caution is warranted in using antidepressants if you already have type 2 diabetes or are at risk of developing the disease. Further research is needed to determine whether antidepressants directly cause type 2 diabetes. In the meantime, awareness of the connection is important, as is staying in regular contact with your doctor to have your health monitored. Eating healthy and exercising are crucial, too, and will go a long way in improving both depression and diabetes.

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There is a significant difference between type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Of course, these diseases are two types of diabetes and thus share similarities. Here we’ll explore the similarities and differences between type 1 and type 2 diabetes to help you evaluate which type of diabetes might apply to you or a loved one if you’re concerned about diabetes ("Diabetes Symptoms and Signs in Adults, Men, Women and Children").  

Type 1 and Type 2: Both are Diabetes

Diabetes is a metabolic disorder, which means that there’s a problem with the way the body metabolizes glucose into energy ("What Is Diabetes?"). Glucose is created during digestion when carbohydrates you’ve eaten are broken down into sugar (glucose). Glucose enters the bloodstream where it travels to the cells of your body. Your cells need glucose for energy, but glucose can’t get into the cells on its own. It needs insulin, which is a hormone made in an organ called the pancreas. Under normal circumstances, insulin goes to work when blood glucose levels rise, and it unlocks the cells so glucose can get out of the blood and into cells where it can be used as energy.

In diabetes, there is a problem with insulin so that glucose can’t enter the cells of the body and remains stranded in the bloodstream. Glucose levels continue to rise, and the result is hyperglycemia, or high blood sugar (high blood glucose).

Diabetes types 1 and 2 both involve high blood glucose levels and are metabolic disorders. If it were this simple, though, the disease would just be called hyperglycemia and there wouldn’t be different types of diabetes. Everything just described does occur in diabetes, but the picture is incomplete.

Difference Between Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes: Insulin

The key difference between type 1 and type 2 diabetes involves what happens with insulin. As we’ve seen, both types of diabetes are disorders of metabolism. Type 2 diabetes is only a metabolic disorder, while type 1 diabetes is also an autoimmune disorder.

All autoimmune diseases involve the immune system turning on its own body, attacking parts of the person’s systems. In the case of type 1 diabetes, the immune system produces cells called autoantibodies that attack the beta cells in the pancreas.

As a result of the immune system’s behavior, the beta cells are destroyed and the pancreas loses its ability to produce insulin. The person’s body cannot make the insulin it needs to move blood glucose into the cells for energy. The disease is permanent because after the immune system destroys something—in this case insulin-producing beta cells—it’s permanently gone.

Insulin is also a problem in type 2 diabetes, but in a different way. In type 2, the body often makes enough insulin and should be able to move blood sugar into cells. However, something prevents that from happening by resisting insulin’s actions. This is known as insulin resistance. There is insulin, but the body isn’t using it efficiently, and hyperglycemia develops.

Sometimes in type 2 diabetes, the body stops producing enough insulin to work correctly. Many times, this happens because the pancreas has been working on overdrive to compensate for insulin resistance. Over time, the pancreas experiences burnout and will continue to produce insulin, but not as much as needed.

The difference between Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes: Who Gets These Diseases?

Type 1 diabetes is much less common than type 2 diabetes. Of all cases of type 1 and type 2 diabetes, type 1 accounts for approximately 5-10 percent, and type 2 makes up all the rest.

Anyone can develop either type of diabetes at any time, although the two types of diabetes each has a higher likelihood in different populations.

Type 1 diabetes:

• Tends to develop in younger people, with half of all cases diagnosed by the early teens and many others by the 20’s ("What Are Type 1 Diabetes Symptoms and Signs?")
• Has unpredictable, uncontrollable risk factors that are still poorly understood and may involve genetics, the environment, and autoimmune aspects that are hard to pinpoint
• Requires daily insulin injections

Type 2 diabetes:

• Tends to increase with age, with diagnoses increasing as people age beyond 45 ("What Are Type 2 Diabetes Symptoms? ")
• Has risk factors largely involving lifestyle: people with poor diet, low activity levels, and who are overweight have the highest risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
• Treatable with lifestyle management and, in some cases, a diabetes medication that may or may not include insulin

There are indeed differences between type 1 and type 2 diabetes. A key similarity is that while there is no cure for either type, both types can be treated and managed so people can enjoy life.

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That there is a strong link between schizophrenia and diabetes is not a new discovery. The relationship between diabetes and schizophrenia has been known for more than 100 years. While after a century much about the connection is still not well understood, medical and mental health professionals are building knowledge about the connection and using it to develop better prevention and treatment for people who live with both schizophrenia and diabetes.

The number of people with both illnesses is significant. People with schizophrenia are three times more likely than the general population to develop type 2 diabetes (Toich, 2017). Further, 20-30 percent of people with schizophrenia will develop diabetes type 2 (Cohn, 2012). These numbers are too high to dismiss as coincidence. What is it that influences the connection between these drastically different medical and psychiatric conditions? Here’s a look at what researchers are discovering.

Schizophrenia, Antipsychotic Medication, and Diabetes

One culprit for the development of diabetes in people with schizophrenia is antipsychotic medication. Antipsychotics are an essential component of schizophrenia treatment. They’re necessary to reduce the hallucinations, delusions, and many other symptoms of schizophrenia. Antipsychotics, however, have dangerous side effects, including weight gain ("Are There Any Safe Antipsychotics in Diabetes Treatment?").

Weight gain from antipsychotic medications is often significant. Antipsychotic medications can cause obesity, high cholesterol, and an increase in triglycerides, or fats found in the blood. These conditions can cause type 2 diabetes.

Many different types of antipsychotics and atypical antipsychotics are available. Ideally, people with schizophrenia take medications that cause the least amount of weight gain, such as aripiprazole (Abilify) or ziprasidone (Geodon); however, this isn’t always the case. Multiple classic and atypical antipsychotics are available and widely used to treat schizophrenia. Chlorpromazine (Thorazine), clozapine (Clozaril), and olanzapine (Zyprexa) are among those that cause the biggest amount of weight gain.

Attributing diabetes to weight gain from medication has proven to be too simplistic. Sometimes, diabetes develops very rapidly after someone is newly diagnosed with schizophrenia. Researchers have found that some people who experience their first episode of psychosis already have indications of type 2 diabetes:

• Decreased glucose tolerance
• High fasting plasma glucose levels
• High fasting plasma insulin levels
• Increased insulin resistance

This happens either before or shortly after medication treatment begins, before weight gain and other side-effects have begun; therefore, the link between schizophrenia and diabetes isn’t merely from medication. There is something about schizophrenia itself that contributes to the development of diabetes.

Factors Contributing to the Schizophrenia and Diabetes Link

Without a doubt, medication-induced weight gain is part of the reason these two serious conditions co-occur. It’s just not the only factor. Knowing what else contributes to the development of diabetes in people with schizophrenia can lead to better treatment and management strategies.

These factors solidify the link between diabetes and schizophrenia:

• Genetics. There is a genetic component not yet fully understood that makes some people more prone than others to develop these illnesses.
• Developmental risk factors. Premature birth, low birth weight, and other pregnancy and delivery complications can contribute to both schizophrenia and diabetes.
• Lifestyle. Often, schizophrenia is associated with cigarette smoking, poor diet, and lack of exercise, all things that are detrimental to health.
• Social health problems. Low income, poor housing circumstances, and difficulty meeting basic needs are risk factors for serious health problems like the combination of diabetes and schizophrenia.

Living with both schizophrenia and diabetes presents numerous challenges ("Schizophrenia Makes Diabetes Management Challenging"). Understanding the unbreakable link can help lead to a treatment approach that incorporates the management of both illnesses together. This can improve the quality of life for people with combined type 2 diabetes and schizophrenia.

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What is type 2 diabetes? It is by far the most common form of diabetes, accounting for about 90-95 percent of all cases of this serious disease ("What Are the Types of Diabetes?"). Here’s a look at what type 2 diabetes is.

Type 2 Diabetes Definition

Type 2 diabetes is a disease involving metabolism. When you eat carbohydrates, your body breaks them down into a sugar called glucose. Cells need glucose for energy, but the only way the glucose can get out of the bloodstream and into the cells is with the help of insulin. Insulin is made in an organ called the pancreas and released into the body where it leads glucose into cells or, when there’s extra glucose, into the liver for storage ("What Is Diabetes?").

This process goes awry in type 2 diabetes. The body either doesn’t make enough insulin or it produces enough insulin but can’t use it properly. This is called insulin resistance and is a simple type 2 diabetes definition.

In insulin resistance, the body resists insulin’s effort to move glucose into the body’s cells. Blood sugar climbs too high (a condition called hyperglycemia), while cells’ energy level is too low. This poses both short- and long-term health risks including problems with the heart, blood vessels, nerves, eyes, and kidneys.

How do you know if you have type 2 diabetes? Certain type 2 diabetes symptoms can alert you to the condition.

Type 2 Diabetes Symptoms

Type 2 diabetes is a progressive disease, which means it worsens over time. Initially, someone might not have any signs or symptoms ("What Is Prediabetes? Definition and Symptoms"). In fact, this condition is often diagnosed accidentally, during a doctor visit for something else entirely.

When type 2 diabetes symptoms do begin to appear, they can include any of the following:

• Increased hunger
• Increased thirst
• Frequent urination
• Unexplained fatigue (feeling very tired despite sleeping well)
• Dry, itchy skin
• Dry mouth
• Numbness or tingling of the hands and feet
• Blurry vision
• Weakness
• Flu-like feeling
• Unexplained weight loss or weight gain
• Sores that are slow to heal
• Frequent infections
• Gum problems
• Erectile dysfunction
• Darkening of the skin, especially around the neck or armpits (a condition called acanthosis)

You don’t have to have all these symptoms to have type 2 diabetes, so if you notice any of them and have diabetes risk factors, a visit with your primary care physician might be in order.

Cause of Type 2 Diabetes, Risk Factors

Scientists are still researching the exact cause of type 2 diabetes ("What Causes Diabetes?"). The cause of type 2 diabetes remains elusive, but researchers have identified consistent risk factors. These are

• Genetics; if you have a parent or sibling with type 2 diabetes, your chances of developing it are higher
• Obesity or being overweight; while type 2 can occur in people who aren’t overweight, 75% of people with this form of diabetes are or have been obese with a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or higher (American Diabetes Association, 2011).
• Body shape; people who are apple-shaped, with a concentration of body fat in the abdomen, are at an increased risk of diabetes
• A sedentary lifestyle
• Poor nutrition  
• Race; African Americans, Latinos/as, American Indians, Asian Americans, and Pacific Islanders are at a higher risk than other ethnic groups for type 2 diabetes
• Age; type 2 can occur at any age, but the risk increases after age 45

The connection between type 2 diabetes and being overweight involves body fat and insulin. Fatty tissue interferes in the body’s ability to efficiently use insulin, causing the insulin resistance that is type 2 diabetes.

The fact that the risk factors and causes of type 2 diabetes have strong lifestyle components is good news. It means that prevention and treatment are possible.

Type 2 Diabetes Treatment; Type 2 Diabetes Prevention

There is no cure for diabetes. Type 2 diabetes can, however, be prevented and treated. Both type 2 diabetes treatment and type 2 diabetes prevention involve lifestyle changes.

Type 2 diabetes prevention involves knowing the risk factors and consulting your doctor for testing every two or three years if you are at risk. Making lifestyle changes that involve exercise, nutrition, and weight loss can prevent type 2 diabetes from developing.

If you or a loved one has already been diagnosed, type 2 diabetes treatment is possible. Comprehensive treatment involves managing blood glucose levels. You can accomplish this by:

• Monitoring your blood sugar levels according to your doctor’s direction
• Eating healthy foods and avoiding processed foods, fast food, and sugary drinks
• Controlling weight
• Increasing your physical activity
• Working with your healthcare team (made up of different healthcare specialists who treat diabetes-related problems)
• Taking medication, including insulin, if prescribed (medication isn’t always necessary in type 2 diabetes)

Type 2 diabetes is a serious disease involving problems with insulin and high blood glucose levels, but with proper treatment, you can live well and enjoy your life.

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Diabetes symptoms in children are important to know. Diabetes is a serious disease that can lead to long-term health problems, and the idea that your child might have it can be scary. If you suspect diabetes, compare what your child is experiencing with these diabetes symptoms in children.

Diabetes Symptoms in Children and Teens: Where Do They Come From?

To put the symptoms of diabetes in context, it helps to understand what diabetes is. Diabetes is a disease involving a problem with insulin, a hormone made by the pancreas. Insulin is what lets glucose (the sugar needed by the body for energy) into the cells of the body. If the body doesn’t make enough insulin, or if it doesn’t use its insulin efficiently, glucose (the sugar needed for energy) can’t get into the cells. When this happens, glucose remains stuck in the bloodstream. Blood sugar levels then become too high, a condition called hyperglycemia.

Hyperglycemia can lead to many serious health consequences. The earlier diabetes is diagnosed, the better children and teens can manage it and prevent other health problems from developing.

The primary diabetes types for kids and teenagers are type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes. Type 1 was formerly known as juvenile-onset diabetes because it is far more common for this type to develop in youth and young adults than it is in adults; however, that term is no longer widely used because it’s possible for type 1 to develop in adulthood. In Type 1, the body can’t make insulin because the immune system destroys the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas.

Type 2 diabetes used to be diagnosed almost exclusively in adults. A major risk factor for this type is lifestyle: a sedentary life with poor nutrition, sugary drinks, and overweight or obesity puts people at risk for type 2 diabetes. Now, because of increasing childhood obesity and inactivity, the rate of type 2 diabetes in children and teens is rising.

Diabetes causes specific symptoms because of what it does in the body. The kidneys must work overtime to try to filter out the extra glucose in the blood. The process draws fluid from the body. Hyperglycemia damage throughout the body as the sugar-laden blood flows through all systems. It’s this process that is behind the diabetes symptoms in children and diabetes symptoms in teens.

Diabetes Symptoms, Juvenile

Unfortunately, diabetes symptoms in children aren’t always present. Especially in type 2 diabetes, they can be absent or very mild, developing slowly over the course of months or even years. Type 1 diabetes is different. Typically, symptoms appear suddenly and progress in a matter of weeks at the most. Whether diabetes symptoms appear quickly or gradually, they are distinct.

Common diabetes symptoms in children and teens include:

• Increased thirst
• Frequent urination
• Increased hunger, especially after eating
• Excessive tiredness
• Dry mouth
• Blurred vision
• Weight loss
• Numbness or tingling in the hands and feet
• Fruity breath

In addition to thirst, hunger, urination, fatigue, numbness, and blurred vision, diabetes symptoms in teens and children can include:       

• Slow-healing sores or cuts
• Frequent infections
• Dry, itchy skin
• Weight gain (or, sometimes, weight loss)
• Flu-like feeling
• Dry, itchy skin
• Formation of dark patches on the skin

Diabetes Symptoms in Toddlers and Children: The 4 Ts

When you’re worried about your child no matter what his or her age, it can be hard to remember a list of symptoms. To help parents easily remember the key symptoms of diabetes in children, Diabetes UK developed the 4 Ts:

• Toilet
• Thirsty
• Tired
• Thinner

If your child increases trips to the bathroom (for babies and toddlers, look for more saturated diapers that need to be changed often), needs to drink a great deal but thirst isn’t quenched, is always tired, and is thinner due to weight loss, a trip to the doctor to check for diabetes would be wise.

If your child of any age—baby through teen—develops any of the above symptoms, diabetes is a possibility. Your doctor will be able to confirm diabetes or lay your concerns to rest ("How to Diagnose Diabetes: Criteria, Tests for Diabetes Diagnosis").

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Diabetes and mental health have a rather deep relationship. Each one affects the other in many ways. Living with either diabetes or a mental health condition can increase the risk of developing the other. Also, symptoms and effects of diabetes and mental health conditions are worse when someone has both diabetes and a mental health diagnosis.

Diabetes and Mental Health: One Affects the Other Because Both Are Hard

Diabetes and mental health conditions, like anxiety and depression, initially seem unrelated. It’s easy to overlook something important they share: they are chronic illnesses that are difficult to live with and manage.

Diabetes is a disease in which the body either doesn’t produce enough insulin or the body doesn’t use it correctly. Insulin is needed because without it, glucose (sugar) from digestion can’t get into the cells of the body.

It stays in the bloodstream rather than entering the cells to be used as energy. Too much glucose in the blood is called hyperglycemia and is dangerous. People with diabetes must monitor their blood sugar levels closely and make necessary adjustments in their treatment to keep these levels stable.

Because of the intensity of daily monitoring, treatment, and lifestyle management, diabetes is stressful physically, mentally, and emotionally. It can cause emotional responses like stress, frustration, anger, and feelings of sadness or hopelessness. These mental health effects of diabetes aren’t necessarily depression or anxiety, but they’re similar. The experience is known as diabetes distress, or diabetes burnout, and it is part of someone’s mental health. When diabetes distress lasts or worsens, it can become major depression ("What’s the Link Between Diabetes and Mental Illness?").

The link between mental health and diabetes is strong if for no other reason than that living with these illnesses is hard. However, there are other reasons for the effects of diabetes on mental health and the effects of mental health issues on diabetes.

Diabetes and Mental Health Issues: Why They Affect Each Other

Two primary, chronic, forms of diabetes are type 1 and type 2. Both types of diabetes affect mental health.

Mental health challenges like depression can impact diabetes. Depression, for example, depletes people of energy and decreases motivation. This makes adherence to diabetes treatment plans difficult, potentially worsening diabetes. Other effects of depression that affect diabetes include:

• Overeating (can cause weight gain, which is linked to type 2 diabetes)
• Inactivity (increases blood sugar and makes management more difficult)
• Fatigue and a sense of worthlessness (can make people ignore diabetes treatment)
• Psychiatric medications can interact with diabetes medications

Likewise, diabetes can worsen depression and other mental health challenges for various reasons:

• The stress of managing diabetes contributes to anxiety ("Diabetes and Anxiety: There’s Plenty to Be Anxious About")
• A sense of hopelessness can contribute to depression ("Diabetes and Depression: Two Difficult Conditions to Manage")
• Blood sugar levels that are too high, too low, or fluctuating have negative effects on the brain that can lead to mental health disorders

The mutual risk factor and the worsening of each other’s symptoms that arise from the connection between diabetes and mental health creates a vicious cycle. The stress of living with diabetes as well as its impact on the brain can cause mental health issues. These, in turn, make managing diabetes more difficult and can increase the severity of the disease or contribute to the development of the disease. This cycle can create additional problems ("Uncontrolled Diabetes and Mental Health Complications").

Problems Associated with the Diabetes and Mental Health Link

Living with diabetes and a mental health condition is challenging and has multiple consequences:

• Decreased quality of life
• Poor adherence to treatment for diabetes and mental health, which increases illness severity 
• Increased cost of care
• Higher number of visits to the emergency room
• More admissions to the hospital
• Greater absenteeism from school or work, sometimes resulting in school failure or unemployment

While extra problems and challenges can arise when someone has both diabetes and a mental health condition, the situation isn’t all bad. How does diabetes affect your mental health? It can be very positive. When you’re aware of the challenges, you can use your insight to develop and adhere to a treatment plan as well as seek support. Addressing diabetes and mental health together can enhance wellness.

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Diabetes and anxiety occur together so frequently that it seems as though diabetes causes anxiety. While that’s not quite the case, there is a relationship between the two difficult conditions. Wanting to understand and improve the health and wellbeing of the millions of people who have both diabetes and anxiety, researchers have been studying the combination ("Diabetes and Mental Health: How One Affects the Other"). They’ve found some staggering statistics.

Diabetes and Anxiety: If You Have Diabetes, Your Chances of Anxiety are High

Anxiety isn’t automatically a part of diabetes; however, people who have diabetes have a 20 percent higher likelihood of developing an anxiety disorder than those without diabetes. Additionally:

• Forty percent of people with diabetes experience uncomfortable anxiety symptoms but don’t have a diagnosable anxiety disorder.
• Approximately 14 percent of all people with diabetes have been diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), which is about three times higher than GAD among people without diabetes
• Anxiety co-occurs with diabetes more often in women than in men.

These numbers apply to both type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes and anxiety ("What Is the Difference Between Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes?").

Not only do many people with diabetes have anxiety, but it’s possible that anxiety is a risk factor for the development of the disease. When doctors are diagnosing type 2 diabetes, they often consider anxiety among the other known risk factors such as lifestyle and genetics.

Clearly, there is a connection between these two life-disrupting illnesses. Looking at the link more closely can increase understanding of what’s happening and allow better treatment and management of both conditions ("What's the Link Between Diabetes and Mental Illness?").

Stress, Anxiety, and Diabetes: A Perfect Storm

High levels of stress and anxiety can make us ill in several ways. A common concern among researchers, medical professionals, and patients is that stress and anxiety might cause diabetes. There isn’t yet a definitive answer to the question of cause because much is still unknown about the relationship between stress, anxiety, and diabetes. However, many helpful discoveries have been made.

Diabetes, anxiety, and stress are intricately related:

• Stress and anxiety negatively affect blood glucose (sugar) levels, causing them to drop too low.
• Anxiety and stress are associated with increased levels of the stress hormone cortisol; cortisol interferes in insulin’s efforts to get glucose out of the bloodstream and into the body’s cells, a problematic part of type 2 diabetes called insulin resistance.
• The intense, ongoing tasks of diabetes management—monitoring blood sugar, diet, weight, exercise, insulin injections, and other tasks can cause create or intensify stress and anxiety
• Worries about health problems caused by diabetes can be all-consuming.

Stress and anxiety exacerbate diabetes, which in turn creates more stress and anxiety. It’s a vicious cycle that is hard to break. Breaking it, though, is crucial to health and wellbeing. Treating anxiety and diabetes can even help another anxiety-related link to diabetes: panic attacks.

Diabetes and Panic Attacks: There’s a Relationship

Panic attacks are sudden, short-lived experiences of intense anxiety. They can happen seemingly at random, with no trigger other than worrying about having one, or they can happen in response to intense anxiety, like the stress of having diabetes.

Anxiety over diabetes care and consequences can sometimes trigger panic attacks. This is annoying to experience but not dangerous. The problem with the link between diabetes and panic attacks is that the symptoms of panic attacks are similar to the symptoms of hypoglycemia, an episode of low blood sugar that can be a medical emergency.

Hypoglycemia and panic attacks share these prominent symptoms:

• Rapid heart rate/pounding heart
• Shaking
• Sweating
• Heightened fear
• Intense anxiety
• Nervousness

(It’s important to note that each has other, unique symptoms.)

The danger lies in mistaking a hypoglycemic episode for a panic attack. Assuming that your symptoms are part of a panic attack can delay treatment. Blood sugar levels will continue to drop, possibly resulting in coma or death. Even when you think the symptoms are part of a panic attack, it’s always wise to check your blood sugar levels to be safe.

Treating and Managing Diabetes and Anxiety for a Quality Life

Anxiety is common among people with diabetes. Unfortunately, it can interfere in diabetes treatment. It makes it difficult for people to comply with the many stressful aspects of managing the disease. Treating both anxiety and diabetes will improve physical and mental health and improve life. It can be daunting to know where to begin.

Often, starting with something these two conditions have in common is helpful.

Both anxiety and diabetes have a common denominator: stress. Therefore, developing a daily stress-management plan can help you feel more in control and able to follow through with diabetes monitoring and treatment. It’s convenient that many stress and anxiety management techniques also help diabetes:

• Creating and following a healthy diet
• Exercise
• Journaling
• Engaging in a fun hobby
• Yoga or Tai chi
• Building a support network
• Therapy

Although anxiety and diabetes are often interconnected, you don’t have to live miserably with both. Manage both, and you’ll increase your wellbeing.

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The challenges of treating diabetes when you have ADHD can be frustrating. Diabetes and ADHD can affect each other, and when one isn’t managed, it can spiral out of control and take the other with it. The high and low blood sugar levels that are part of diabetes negatively impact the body and brain and make managing both diabetes and ADHD that much more challenging. Further, treating diabetes when you have ADHD is difficult, and the risk of blood sugar swings and health problems increases.  Understanding treatment difficulties can help you become better at treating diabetes and ADHD.

How ADHD Makes Treating Diabetes Difficult

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder involves difficulty focusing and paying attention. Additionally, remembering information is a problem for those living with ADHD. The process of committing information to both short- and long-term memory is disrupted in ADHD. This is unfortunate for diabetes management, something that requires focus, attention, and memory.

Someone living with ADHD often struggles to remember daily tasks ("ADHD and Diabetes Symptoms Can Look Similar"). When one of those tasks is diabetes monitoring and care, this can have dire health consequences.

Trying to treat diabetes and ADHD can create strong emotional responses:

• A sense of being overwhelmed
• The crushing feeling that dealing with these is impossible
• Frustration
• Despair
• Anger about having diabetes and ADHD

These emotions get in the way of treating diabetes and ADHD. It’s not uncommon for people to want to give up trying to treat these illnesses. Others might, out of a need to make things simple, take insulin injections without first checking blood sugar levels. Taking too much insulin for diabetes or doing nothing to manage it leads to dangerous problems with blood sugar levels. When not managed properly, blood sugar can climb too high (hyperglycemia) or drop too low (hypoglycemia).

Diabetes becomes more difficult to treat, too, with the focusing problems caused by ADHD. Just like diabetes causes both hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia, ADHD causes the brain to swing from hyperfocused to hypofocused.  Both focusing extremes can interfere in diabetes treatment.

Hypofocus refers to an inability to concentrate and pay attention. It causes what seems like forgetfulness, and it often prevents people from remembering to check their blood sugar levels and administer insulin. The other extreme is hyperfocusing. ADHD can cause someone to dive so completely into a single task that everything else, including important things like diabetes management, slips away.

The nature of ADHD can make the tasks of diabetes self-care and management difficult. Without proper care, diabetes leads to health problems, and it impacts the brain in such a way that ADHD symptoms worsen.

Treating ADHD and diabetes almost always involves medication. Ironically, medications that are meant to treat these conditions can sometimes make them difficult to manage.

Diabetes and ADHD Medications

Medication is a vital part of treatment for both ADHD and diabetes. Insulin is always required in type 1 diabetes treatment because the body doesn’t make insulin on its own but needs it to regulate blood sugar. It’s sometimes used to treat type 2 diabetes as well. Type 2 diabetes can be treated with other medications in addition to or instead of insulin.

Medication is frequently prescribed to manage the symptoms of ADHD. Many different options are available, including stimulants such as Adderall and Ritalin.

Researchers haven’t discovered evidence that medication for one of these conditions directly causes the other. Diabetes medication hasn’t been shown to lead to the development of ADHD, nor does ADHD medication cause diabetes.

Medication, though, does play a role in diabetes management. Adderall, Ritalin, and other ADHD medications can suppress appetite; therefore, someone taking a stimulant for ADHD is likely to eat less, which in diabetes can result in hypoglycemia. It can be difficult to treat diabetes consistently without a steady supply of food into the system.

Tips for Treating Diabetes and ADHD

While it’s s true that living with diabetes and ADHD can be frustrating and treating these sometimes feels impossible, both conditions can indeed be managed so you can live a quality life. Use these tips to help you shape a treatment plan that works for you:

• Work with your doctor to discover the most effective types of ADHD and diabetes medications.
• Consider counseling to help you deal with intense thoughts and emotions and come to terms with having two difficult illnesses.
• Develop a routine for taking your medication, testing your blood sugar, and engaging in other aspects of treatment (exercise, creating meal plans, finding ways to increase focus, etc.)
• Write your routine into a calendar or other schedule that you can easily refer to as a reminder.
• Think in terms of daily, or even hourly, management activities. What do you need to do, moment by moment, to manage your diabetes and ADHD?

Treating ADHD and diabetes is difficult sometimes. However, you can learn to organize, remember, and do what you need to do to stay healthy. You’ll be rewarded with a physically and mentally healthy life.

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