T/F Eating too much sugar causes diabetes.
T/F Type 1 diabetes is only diagnosed in children and Type 2 refers to a diagnosis of diabetes as an adult.
T/F Being diabetic means that you can not eat any sugar.
T/F A common diabetic medication can also be used in infertility treatments.
This rotation was completed by spending three days at the Joslin Diabetes Center, an outpatient diabetes clinic housed in the University of Maryland main hospital. While there, I sat in on patient nutrition counseling sessions and visited patient classes covering topics from nutrition to medications. During this rotation I carried around a glucometer and checked my blood sugar multiple times a day to get an idea of how diabetics have to manage this as part of their regular routines. It was an interesting experience and it also confirmed that I do NOT have diabetes since my levels were well below the diagnostic values. My intern partner did a practice injection as well, but I skipped this since I've already done a few subcutaneous ab injections with infertility meds. I had to complete a project for the clinic so I chose to make recipe handouts with the recipe cost, nutrition information, and serving suggestions. The assignment was easy since I was able to use some work that I'd already completed in the past with just some formatting changes. During the rotation I was also able to attend a couple of "lunch and learn" sessions to learn about new diabetic products and treatment protocols. It was really interesting to learn about continuous glucose monitoring where a patient wears a sensor inserted just under their skin in their abdomen and the sensor continually checks the blood sugar levels of the patient with the ability to set off an alarm when the values get too high or too low. How cool is that! It's an awesome technology but super expensive because the sensors have to be replaced every couple of days. I also got to learn about insulin pumps, insulin types, pen injectors vs. syringes and many other things. It was a very informative rotation.
This rotation was completed by spending three days at the Joslin Diabetes Center, an outpatient diabetes clinic housed in the University of Maryland main hospital. While there, I sat in on patient nutrition counseling sessions and visited patient classes covering topics from nutrition to medications. During this rotation I carried around a glucometer and checked my blood sugar multiple times a day to get an idea of how diabetics have to manage this as part of their regular routines. It was an interesting experience and it also confirmed that I do NOT have diabetes since my levels were well below the diagnostic values. My intern partner did a practice injection as well, but I skipped this since I've already done a few subcutaneous ab injections with infertility meds. I had to complete a project for the clinic so I chose to make recipe handouts with the recipe cost, nutrition information, and serving suggestions. The assignment was easy since I was able to use some work that I'd already completed in the past with just some formatting changes. During the rotation I was also able to attend a couple of "lunch and learn" sessions to learn about new diabetic products and treatment protocols. It was really interesting to learn about continuous glucose monitoring where a patient wears a sensor inserted just under their skin in their abdomen and the sensor continually checks the blood sugar levels of the patient with the ability to set off an alarm when the values get too high or too low. How cool is that! It's an awesome technology but super expensive because the sensors have to be replaced every couple of days. I also got to learn about insulin pumps, insulin types, pen injectors vs. syringes and many other things. It was a very informative rotation.
Some class materials: beverage options (some recommended, some not) and some sugar tubes. The tubes show sugar amounts in some common foods. The tubes represent (L-R): 2 T. pancake syrup, 1 3" chocolate chip cookie, 12 oz. regular soda, 1 3 oz. brownie and 1 cup regular ice cream.
Answers:
1-False. Eating too much sugar DOES NOT cause diabetes. Rather, the disease is related to the body's inability to produce insulin due to damage to the beta cells in the pancreas (type 1) or the body's inefficient use of the insulin that is produced (type 2-although the two types are really more complicated than this).
2-False. Type 1 is typically diagnosed in children, but not always and type 2 used to be an adult-associated disease, but has now become prevalent among children with the rise in overweight and obesity. The types used to be called juvenile or adult-onset but these terms are no longer used since the distinction is no longer clear. Also, type 1 may be referred to as insulin dependent diabetes because all type 1 diabetics must use insulin, but type 2 diabetics may also require insulin so insulin-dependent and non-insulin dependent diabetes are also outdated terms.
3-False. Diabetics can still eat sugar. Type 1 diabetics use insulin injections to cover their sugar (or any carbohydrate) consumption. The more they eat, the more insulin they need. Type 2 diabetics typically have a limited amount of carbs as part of their eating plan and their body processes them with help from oral medications and lifestyle adjustments. Like I said above, some type 2 also take insulin to help with carbohydrate breakdown.
4-True. Metformin (glucophage) is a common diabetic medication that helps with insulin resistance. The medication may also be used in women with polycystic ovarian syndrome to help with conception since women with PCOS have issues with insulin resistance that affect ovulation. This medication is how we were able to have Eliza.
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