Diabetes

The word diabetes comes from the greek language and means �to run through,�. This means excessive urination (polyuria) that is a classic symptom of the condition (Gulledge & Beard, 1999). Mellitus is derived from the latin language and means �sweetened or � honeyed� because urine from an untreated patient is sweet due to the presence of sugar(Gullege & Beard, 1999). High blood sugar can be caused by an autoimmune reaction that destroys the source of insulin (IDDM) or may be due an interference with the action of insulin (insulin resistance). This is called NIDDM (Gulledge & Beard, 1999). Most children with diabetes have IDDM. Families need to be taught that in IDDM the insulin-producing beta cells have been destroyed and the function of these cells does not return. Therefore, insulin injections will be necessary for the lifetime of the child (Gulledge & Beard, 1999).

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