Many parents struggle emotionally with the news that a child has Diabetes, and take months to adjust, according to new study findings.

After analyzing 40 interviews with parents of newly diagnosed children with type 1 diabetes, UK researchers found that many believed their children’s initial symptoms stemmed from easily curable problems, such as throat infections, and were therefore ill-prepared for a diagnosis of a chronic disease.

“Most parents are very shocked by the speed of a diabetes diagnosis and the fact that changes have to be made to their child’s life straight away,” Dr. Lesley Lowes of Cardiff University.

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease, and requires daily insulin injections. Attention to diet is also necessary to prevent blood sugar levels climbing too high or dropping too low.

“Suddenly normal childhood routines are replaced with insulin injections, blood glucose monitoring, regular mealtimes and increased vigilance,” Lowes noted. Parents also worry about the long-term effects the disease may have, she added.

Lowes recommended that parents of a diabetic child ask healthcare staff “as many questions as they need,” and contact other parents of diabetic children, who can provide some needed empathy.

Indeed, most parents said they had accepted their child’s diagnosis within 4 months and adapted to it, Lowes and her colleagues report in the Journal of Advanced Nursing. By 12 months, all had adjusted to the change, seeing it as part of their “everyday lives,” the researchers write.

Family and friends of parents with a diabetic child can do their part by learning about diabetes and how to deal with it in a “natural way, with a minimum of fuss,” Lowes added.

“The key message is to fit diabetes into your life, not fit your life into Diabetes,” she said.

SOURCE: Journal of Advanced Nursing, May 2005.