Type 1 Diabetes
SOMETHING EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW; if you know someone who is diabetic and they become erratic, irritable or they become dizzy, almost appearing drunk without the drink they may have low blood sugar, simply give them something with sugar in it like a can of coke or a snack bar, even sugar in water would suffice, within minutes they should start to recover, if not simply repeat until symptoms improve
Insulin removes glucose from the blood stream and should only be administered by the person who is diabetic or a trained individual/medical professional
Type 1, Insulin Dependant or Juvenile Diabetes is when the body doesn't produce any insulin and usually occurs in early adolescents hence the name juvenile.
The reasons for developing Type 1 Diabetes aren't completely understood but it is widely accepted that it is caused by an auto immune response. Basically your body fights of illness by producing antibodies which target a particular type of infection, Type 1 Diabetes is caused when these same antibodies kill off an infection but also wrongly identify the cells that produce insulin (located in the pancreas) as belonging to the same infection and as a result destroys them.
I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when I was 12 years old. I had no idea what diabetes was at the time except the fact that it would affect the rest of my life.
- I couldn't inject myself with insulin nor could I jab myself in the finger for a blood glucose test, which is where my parents came in handy.
-I was given a basic self injector to help me administer my insulin, which basically takes a syringe and attaches it to a plunger so all I had to do was push a button. I eventually realized just using a syringe instead of a parent or plunger hurt allot less and have injected myself ever since:)
Some of the things to watch out for with diabetes are: (briefly explained below )
Hypoglycemia, also referred to as low blood sugar, for me this takes place when sugar my levels fall below 3 mmol/l and can happen even during those times when you're doing all you can to manage your diabetes, keeping a snack handy at all times won't weight you down and could prevent hypoglycemia, I use snack bars like Nutrigrain bars and don't just use chocolate and extremely sugary foods with a high fat content.
Hyperglycemia, Hyperglycemia is a major cause of many of the complications that happen to people who have diabetes. For this reason, it's important to know what hyperglycemia is, what its symptoms are, and how it is treated:
- I keep a close eye on sugar levels with blood glucose monitoring, high blood sugar makes me feel ill and irritable so catching hyperglycemia quickly is invaluable, hyperglycemia is treated with a fast acting insulin
- If racing, training or having a laugh when blood glucose levels are high I find my performance and enjoyment is severely reduced
- "It takes five seconds to get a blood glucose reading, which will leave me confident to live an outgoing lifestyle", I always aim to have a blood glucose of 5 - 7 mmol/l
Ketoacidosis, can usually be detected with a urine test strip and is the by product of hyperglycemia and can usually be detected using a urine test strip when sugar levels are above 13 mmol/l.
