At Thrive Pediatrics, we are committed to helping our families with chronic health conditions like pediatric diabetes.
This is why we wanted to share a new study recently released by Stanford Children’s Health. The study, published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, demonstrates the importance and benefits of setting children and teens up with the latest continuous glucose monitor treatment devices shortly after a type 1 diabetes diagnosis.
The Pediatric Diabetes Study Findings Explained
Over the years, some pediatricians held the belief that this technology was too overwhelming for families who were adjusting to their child’s diabetes diagnosis.
But, the findings emphasize that rapid access to diabetes technology is good for patients. Rather than being overwhelmed, parents and kids were able to adopt the technology quickly and saw benefits in using the monitors.
Additionally, automated monitoring allowed the medical team — not only physicians, diabetes educators, and nurses but also computer scientists, statisticians, and engineers — to quickly identify which patients were struggling and provide extra help.
Advantages of continuous monitoring
By greatly decreasing the need for finger pricks, the monitors also reduced tension between kids and parents.
With the monitors, families can also get a more accurate sense of how the child’s blood sugar responds to all sorts of everyday situations, from eating a favorite meal to playing a soccer game to coming down with a cold. Everyone also sleeps more easily, because the monitor sends alerts if a child has dangerously low blood sugar in the middle of the night — a precursor to diabetic coma.
A Holistic Approach to Pediatric Diabetes
Chronic conditions bring an added layer of stress into everyday life.
We feel this study emphasizes the importance of finding treatment options that help families better cope with the everyday wellness struggles that accompany a chronic condition. It’s important, as shown by the study, to acknowledge the whole child in treatment planning. Diabetes can impact total family wellness from sleep to daily activities, to parent-child relationships.
At Thrive, we believe in the power of multiple approaches to illness prevention and treatment for chronic conditions. This is why we often accompany conventional medical treatments with a holistic approach. This can include homeopathy, vitamin supplements, diet, essential oils, and chiropractic – not only diabetes – but many other chronic conditions.
If your son or daughter is living with diabetes (or another chronic illness), we would love to come alongside your family. Book an appointment today.
