Pediatric Diabetes

Each year, nearly 13,000 children in the United States are diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes.  At Children's Hospital at University Hospital and Clinics, our pediatric diabetes team helps children throughout Missouri and surrounding states who have been diagnosed with diabetes, by teaching them and their families how to successfully manage their disease.

The diabetes care program at Children's Hospital is based on the concept of team care.  Our multidisciplinary team includes a pediatric endocrinologist, pediatric diabetes nurse educators, a pediatric diabetes dietitian and a pediatric diabetes social worker.

Typically, newly diagnosed patients are admitted to Children's Hospital for metabolic stabilization and initiation of self management training.  Follow-up care to evaluate the patient is held in a clinic setting three to four times each year, generally until the patient reaches adulthood.

The patient care program at Children's Hospital is linked closely to the hospital's research program, which conducts both clinical and basic research in diabetes.

The University of Missouri and Children's Hospital was one of the original 21 clinical centers for the landmark Diabetes Control and Complications Trial.  Through this trial, it was learned that an intensive regimen of blood sugar regulation slows the onset and progression of complications such as eye, kidney and nerve disease in patients with Type 1 diabetes.

An important part of the pediatric diabetes program is the Diabetes Diagnostic Laboratory in the Department of Pathology and Anatomical Sciences.  This laboratory is recognized worldwide for its excellence in diabetes-related laboratory testing (*Glycated Hemoglobin, insulin, C-peptide, etc.).  The Diabetes Diagnostic Laboratory has served as the central laboratory for diabetes tests for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services NHANES studies since 1985 (NHANES III and IV).  In addition, the lab has served as a central laboratory for numerous clinical trials worldwide.  The Diabetes Diagnostic Laboratory is also the site of the administrative core and primary reference laboratory and two secondary reference laboratories for the NGSP, an international program for standardization of  glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c).

*Glycated Hemoglobin is the very important diabetes test that measures average blood glucose levels over three to four months at a time.

A strong outreach service complements the care available in Columbia at Children's Hospital.  A pediatric endocrinologist travels to several outreach locations regularly to help monitor patients in their local communities.  Outreach sites include Joplin, Kirksville, Popular Bluff, Rolla, Springfield and West Plains.

Children's Hospital has more than 100 pediatric beds, including a general pediatrics unit and an adolescent unit.  The hospital offers child life specialists who help ensure young patients are coping emotionally with the trauma of their illnesses, and a full-time teacher through the Columbia public school system is available to assist children with their schoolwork during hospitalization.  A Ronald McDonald House is located within walking distance of Children's Hospital. 

Follow-up clinic visits are held at the Cosmopolitan International Diabetes Center located within University Hospital.  The Diabetes Center features examination rooms, multiple classrooms for patient education and even a model kitchen, which is used to teach patients and their families meal planning.

To receive further information about the pediatric diabetes program, please contact:

David E. Goldstein, M.D., has been awarded three-year Recognition with Distinction (beginning June 16, 1999) by the *American Diabetes Association/National Committee for Quality Assurance Provider Recognition Program.

*This diabetes self-management education program has been awarded Recognition by the American Diabetes Association in accordance with the National Standards for Diabetes Self-Management Education Programs.

An equal opportunity/ADA institution

Funded by the Children's Miracle Network