Module 3: Diabetes

POST-MODULE QUIZ LINK: https://forms.gle/H3VTuVGcaJRfeb5W7

This is a mandatory quiz to be completed upon reviewing this week’s materials.

It is only graded for completion, so take the quiz for your learning!

What is diabetes?

Diabetes is a disease that affects the body’s ability to process sugar (glucose). Glucose is necessary for cellular function, and insulin facilitates entry of glucose into a cell. In type 1 diabetes, the pancreas makes little or no insulin. In type 2 diabetes, which is what many people develop as they age, the body either doesn’t respond to insulin, doesn’t make insulin, or both.

More than 100 million Americans have diabetes or pre-diabetes, and that number is rising.

What are some symptoms that may suggest diabetes?

Image from: https://sweetlyreversingdiabetes.wordpress.com/tag/diabetes-symptoms/

What are common complications of diabetes?

-  Compared with people who do not have diabetes, people who have diabetes are 2 to 3 times more likely to have a heart attack or a stroke.

-  Please review this great diagram of some common complications! You will need to zoom in to review.

- Hypoglycemia = low blood sugar (under 60 mg/dL). It can be caused by not eating enough, exercising too much, drinking too much alcohol, or taking too much medication. Patients could be asymptomatic, or present with sweating, trembling, anxiety, confusion or even unconsciousness and seizures.  If patients report that they have low blood sugar at times, make sure they carry glucose tablets or hard candy at all times so they can take that right away.

How do we prevent diabetes complications?

- HEALTHY diet choices:

Source: American Association of Diabetes Educators

Source: CDC

Diet choices to limit or avoid:

• fried foods and other foods high in saturated fat and trans fat

• foods high in salt, also called sodium

• sweets, such as baked goods, candy, and ice cream

• refined grains (white bread, white rice, refined and sweetened cereals)

• beverages with added sugars, such as juice, regular soda, and regular sports or energy drinks

Other ways to manage Diabetes:

- Exercise: 30 minutes per day, most days of the week

- Weight loss

- Avoiding smoking

- “Controlling Your ABCs”: (Hb)A1c, Blood pressure, Cholesterol. When glucose builds up in your blood, it binds to the hemoglobin in your red blood cells. The HbA1c test measures how much glucose is bound. Red blood cells live for about 3 months, so the test shows the average level of glucose in your blood for the past 2-3 months. HbA1c is more accurate than an isolated glucometer reading!

-  Medications

- Finding healthy ways of managing stress: walking, journaling, meditation, stretching, deep breathing, art, community support groups, etc.

What is a Diabetic Emergency?

- Patients with poorly controlled diabetes can have sugars that become significantly too high or too low, causing acute complications.

- When sugars are too high, patients can have two main complications: diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) or hyperosmolar hyperglycemic syndrome (HHS). You do not need to know the details of either illness, but just know that these are serious conditions that require immediate medical care. This is why we ask you to notify a staff member when the blood glucose reading is above 225! Just because a glucose is this high does not necessarily mean that they are in an emergency; this is just a cutoff we use on the van to ask necessary further questions.

-  Hypoglycemia can also lead to severe complications, as described above.

MORE INFORMATION:

●     To read common patient questions about diabetes and how to answer them in terms they can understand: Click here!

●     American Diabetes Association: http://www.diabetes.org