Chrissy Teigen has revealed that her six-year-old son Miles has type 1 diabetes, which was accidentally discovered when he was hospitalised for another illness. The 38-year-old model, who has two children with singer John Legend, thanked her followers on Instagram who spotted Miles wearing a continuous glucose monitor, a device that estimates your blood sugar levels throughout the day and night.

“Many of you may have noticed something special in a photo I posted a few days ago—Luna, Miles, and I celebrating Simone and Team USA,” Teigen wrote. “Miles had his hand raised, and so many of you said the most beautiful and incredible words I’ve ever heard on this platform. You looked at his type 1 diabetes monitor and sent so much love and encouragement in every way possible. I was and am so moved by the kindness of this community already.”

Chrissy said Miles was diagnosed when he was hospitalised with a “terrible case of shigella – an intestinal infection caused by bacteria in food or water”, which he likely got from camp. “The doctors knew there was something else wrong with his blood tests,” she added. “I’ve since learnt that this is how so many young children are diagnosed with type 1 – going to hospital for something completely different.”

What is Type 1 Diabetes?

Type-1 diabetes is a chronic autoimmune disease that prevents your pancreas from making insulin – a vital hormone that regulates the amount of sugar in your blood. According to experts, not having enough insulin leads to too much sugar in your blood which causes hyperglycemia and your body is unable to use the food you eat for energy. If not treated in time, it can lead to serious health problems or even death.

Type 1 diabetes was previously known as juvenile diabetes and insulin-dependent diabetes.

Doctors say that even though it can affect anyone at any age, type 1 diabetes is most commonly diagnosed between the ages of 4-6 and at the onset of puberty. In the United States, non-Hispanic white people are most likely to have type 1 diabetes, and it affects women and men almost equally. Statistics show that about 1.24 million people in the US suffer from type 1 diabetes and this number is expected to rise to five million by 2050. More than 352,000 children and teens under the age of 20 are diagnosed with this diabetes each year.

Signs and Symptoms of Type 1 Diabetes

Experts say that the symptoms of type 1 diabetes are usually mild but can quickly become severe, which can happen over several days, weeks or months. Some of these symptoms are as follows:

• excessive thirst
• frequent urination
• Excessive hunger
• unexplained weight loss
• Tiredness
• Blurred vision
• Slow healing of cuts and wounds
• Vaginal yeast infection

Doctors say delayed diagnosis leads to untreated type 1 diabetes, which can be life-threatening because of a complication called diabetic ketoacidosis.

How is type 1 diabetes in children diagnosed?

Doctors say that it is easy to diagnose type 1 diabetes in children through the following tests:

• blood glucose test
• Glycosylated hemoglobin test
• Antibody Testing
• metabolic panel test
• urine analysis
• Arterial blood gas

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