A volunteer uses glucometer to test the blood sugar level of a man at a free diabetes check-up camp to mark World Diabetes Day, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Saturday, Nov. 14, 2009. (AP Photo/Pavel Rahman)
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Updated: Monday, 23 Nov 2009, 11:09 AM EST
Published : Monday, 23 Nov 2009, 11:09 AM EST
A British teenager with a rare form of diabetes has to sleep in a hospital bed every night for the rest of her life because a single night out could kill her, the Daily Mail reports .
Alice Halstead, 18, has an extreme form of diabetes, that if treated does not limit her life expectancy, but must be monitored around the clock.
The one-in-6.7-billion condition causes her blood sugar to vary greatly and she needs hourly treatment to stop her from slipping into a diabetic coma.
Halstead has spent the last two and a half years in the hospital after she started feeling weak and lethargic at age 16. Blood tests revealed her unique condition.
"My condition is one of a kind. Nobody knows if I will ever get out of [the] hospital. I could spend the rest of my life here -- it's a terrible thought," she said from her hospital bed.
"I spent 16 [years] living a healthy, normal life and I never thought I would be in the situation I am in now or spend years in [the] hospital."
Dr. Phillip Holland, who treats Halstead, said he has never seen a similar case.
"Alice's condition is unique in the way that it binds a large quantity of insulin," he said. "We are all hoping that the antibodies stay away and that Alice can one day live a normal life."
About 200 million people worldwide have some form of diabetes , including 20 million Americans.
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