10-year-old Patna girl with 500 sugar level

Patna: High on sweets, 10-year-old Richika was a Mamma’s girl. One day Richika was surprised when her mother refused her sweets.

“Why? Why have you stopped loving me mummy? Why have you changed?” was the only sentence, Richika’s blocked throat could utter as her housewife-mother would refuse her chocolates or ice cream, for that matter.

Richika’s parents came to know that her only daughter had developed diabetes at an age of nine. Richika was losing weight fast. The flow of glucose into her blood stream was huge. Within one month, Richika had lost over 10 kg weight.

“It was a real challenge, convincing Richika that her now ‘cruel mother’ is still the same ‘sweet mother’. It was “Richika” who was no longer that ‘Richika’,” said city based diabetologist Dr Subash Kumar.

Dr Subash told TOI: “When Richika was brought to me, about five months ago, her average blood sugar level was 500. Not only Richika, her parents were also having panic attacks (emotional).”

Richika’s father who is senior official in Public sector undertakings in Patna, however, refuses to divulge any details on his daughter.

More than physical, diabetes was torturing Richika, a class IV student at Notre Dame Academy, mentally. “She had become an unusual student. She would have bouts of sudden and extreme hunger. Sometimes she would start eating her tiffin while her class would be in progress,” her doctor said quoting Richika parents.

“Richika underwent a six-month comprehensive treatment plan with restrictions on foods. Richika was provided requisite medicines and a psychological support,” said a doctor.

 “My strengths awe all of my peers. I carry insulin injections to school. I stab myself whenever I feel the panic attack. It has made my classmates who would once laugh on me, love me,” the girl told her doctor recently.

An equally shocking case is of a 2.5-year-old-boy Mohit Kumar from Machhuatoli. “The boy was brought to me in 2009 that had 300 blood sugar (fasting). It was a serious case because in place of the patient his parents were to be treated mentally,” former PMCH diabetes head of the department Dr H K Singh told TOI.

The situation is serious due to lack of awareness among parents about it. “A parent from Ramakrishna Nagar brought their 8-year-old child to me around 2 years ago. The boy was suffering from diabetes for the last two years and was in a critical condition,” Singh added.

Singh, a member to the International Diabetic Federation Society, who recounted cases of an 11-year-old girl Shalini Kumari from Gardanibagh and Poonam from Kankarbagh, said: “I am witnessing over 40% growth in the number of cases during the past five years.”

He added: “Apart from genetic disorder and immune system deficiency, unhealthy foods, lack of physical activity, childhood obesity also lead to causing diabetes.”

(names changed to protect identity)

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