Brain link with diabetes
An Australian diabetes expert wants mandatory mental health checks in children with type 1 diabetes because of concerns the condition can affect their brain and increase the risk of depression, anxiety and eating disorders.
Professor Fergus Cameron, head of diabetes services at Melbourne's Royal Children's Hospital, said the effects of diabetes on blood glucose levels were well understood but the condition also affected the brain because glucose was the primary fuel of nerve cells.
One in three young diabetes patients were likely to have mental health problems.
"Diabetes has direct effects on the brain, not just in terms of mental health but also in cognitive function," he said. "These are not philosophical effects of living with the disease but rather effects that people haven't really cottoned on to."
He said people with type 1 diabetes needed regular mental health checks throughout childhood and adolescence but at the very least a mandatory check at age 15.
The Diabetes Research Foundation of WA is bringing him to Perth to give a free public lecture at Princess Margaret Hospital on Monday.
Foundation executive director Sherl Westlund called for more funding to research the psychological health of young people with type 1 diabetes. Places for the lecture must be reserved by phoning 9224 1006.
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