Paediatric teams are now facing babies whose diabetes appears in the first weeks of life, then rapidly reveals deep problems in brain growth and function. A new genetic finding sheds light on how a single molecular fault can disrupt both blood sugar control and early brain development.

Neonatal diabetes is diagnosed in the first six months of life, often within days or weeks after birth. Unlike the more common type 1 diabetes, which usually shows up in children and teenagers, neonatal diabetes is almost always genetic.

Doctors typically notice poor feeding, weight loss, dehydration and extremely high blood sugar. In many cases, the root cause is a mutation that stops the pancreas from making enough insulin. That alone makes neonatal diabetes a medical emergency.