Puberty and insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus

Puberty and IDDM interact at many different levels, each affecting the other. Pediatricians, diabetologists, and patients with IDDM must be aware of these interactions and be prepared to adjust their management of IDDM accordingly. Glycemic control in the young prepubertal patient has not been associated with the development of subsequent diabetic microvascular disease. However, extremely tight glycemic control (percent HbA1 in the nondiabetic range) may expose patients to more severe and more frequent hypoglycemic episodes. This may be particularly detrimental for the very young (less than age 3 years) patient whose brain growth and myelinization has not yet been completed. Glycemic control must be maintained in the prepubertal diabetic patient to ensure normal physical and psychological growth, to avoid hospitalizations, and to allow participation in school and other age-appropriate activities. During puberty, health-care professionals and patients should anticipate more difficulty in maintaining glycemic control. Insulin doses commonly need to be increased, sometimes dramatically. Timing of insulin injections will frequently need to be adjusted to blunt the dawn phenomenon. Patients should be allowed to give themselves additional doses of regular insulin (5% to 10% of their total daily dose) when their blood-sugar levels are intermittently elevated to blunt the increased variability in blood-sugar levels seen during puberty. The use of supplemental regular insulin to correct intermittent hyperglycemia is preferable to withholding food in the adolescent patient, since overzealous food restriction can in itself lead to problems with linear growth and pubertal development.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)