The onset of type 1 diabetes is usually rapid, taking patients and their relatives and friends, and even healthcare professionals by surprise. Diagnosis can involve some degree of diabetic ketoacidosis (commonly referred to as DKA). It is estimated that approximately 30% of newly diagnosed children seen by a healthcare professional have problems related to their diabetes before diagnosis, which suggests that practitioners are missing opportunities to diagnose type 1 diabetes at an earlier stage and possibly avoiding DKA. In this article, we explore how primary care staff can achieve earlier diagnosis of type 1 diabetes.
