Short biology lesson so the rest of this blog makes sense:
I have Type 1 diabetes, for those wh don't know. Diabetes is a chronic condition where the pancreas' ability to produce ninsulin is either compromised and the insulin doesn't function properly (Type 2), or is entirely shut down (Type 1). Insulin is a hormone the body needs to metabolize carbohydrates into an energy source. So, Type 2 diabetics take medication to supplement what natural insulin they have, and Type 1 diabetics have to inject animal or synthetic insulin to balance out whatever carbohydrates they take in.
When the balance is off, one of 2 things happens. Either there's not enough insulin in my system, and my blood sugar goes up (hyperglycemia), or there's too much insulin, which burns away too much blood glucose, and my blood sugar drops/crashes (hypoglycemia). The latter is easier to rectify, but also more immediately dangerous.
There, that was the boring part.
7 years ago, I had such severe hypoglycemia that I passed out. EMTs were able to revive me, and all was well. But it got me thinking... What if someone were to OD on insulin? Wouldn't that give a diabetic the ultimate form of accessible suicide? It bounced around in my head for years and yes, I've given it serious thought from time to time. So I researched it recently, and I was surprised at what I found. Apparently, NO studies have been made to look into insulin related suicide. I was shocked. From the minute you're diagnosed, all teh health professionals tell you about how depression can often be a part of diabetes, and yet no one's even bothered to study something that could be a very real consequence of the two.
Now, to be fair, in most documented cases of attempted insulin OD (and I didn't find many), the victims were able to walk away. Some with permanent internal damage, others without any damage whatsoever despite MASSIVE insulin doses (think the equivalent insulin needed to process 12 or 15 large pasta dinners. Now think of how many carbs there are in pasts. Yeah...). Maybe the medical community has decided that the odds of survival are good enough to not warrant helping these people. However, it's believed that a lot more suicides than generally known are related to insulin OD. The problem is no one wants to open that door, and it pisses me off.
People could be dying out there. People like me. And no one is bothering.
*sigh* rant over. I could talk more about diabetes, but I'll save it.
This blog is long enough, so I'll cut it off here. I have plenty more stuff to talk about, though, so stay tuned.
I have Type 1 diabetes, for those wh don't know. Diabetes is a chronic condition where the pancreas' ability to produce ninsulin is either compromised and the insulin doesn't function properly (Type 2), or is entirely shut down (Type 1). Insulin is a hormone the body needs to metabolize carbohydrates into an energy source. So, Type 2 diabetics take medication to supplement what natural insulin they have, and Type 1 diabetics have to inject animal or synthetic insulin to balance out whatever carbohydrates they take in.
When the balance is off, one of 2 things happens. Either there's not enough insulin in my system, and my blood sugar goes up (hyperglycemia), or there's too much insulin, which burns away too much blood glucose, and my blood sugar drops/crashes (hypoglycemia). The latter is easier to rectify, but also more immediately dangerous.
There, that was the boring part.
7 years ago, I had such severe hypoglycemia that I passed out. EMTs were able to revive me, and all was well. But it got me thinking... What if someone were to OD on insulin? Wouldn't that give a diabetic the ultimate form of accessible suicide? It bounced around in my head for years and yes, I've given it serious thought from time to time. So I researched it recently, and I was surprised at what I found. Apparently, NO studies have been made to look into insulin related suicide. I was shocked. From the minute you're diagnosed, all teh health professionals tell you about how depression can often be a part of diabetes, and yet no one's even bothered to study something that could be a very real consequence of the two.
Now, to be fair, in most documented cases of attempted insulin OD (and I didn't find many), the victims were able to walk away. Some with permanent internal damage, others without any damage whatsoever despite MASSIVE insulin doses (think the equivalent insulin needed to process 12 or 15 large pasta dinners. Now think of how many carbs there are in pasts. Yeah...). Maybe the medical community has decided that the odds of survival are good enough to not warrant helping these people. However, it's believed that a lot more suicides than generally known are related to insulin OD. The problem is no one wants to open that door, and it pisses me off.
People could be dying out there. People like me. And no one is bothering.
*sigh* rant over. I could talk more about diabetes, but I'll save it.
This blog is long enough, so I'll cut it off here. I have plenty more stuff to talk about, though, so stay tuned.
VIEW 4 of 4 COMMENTS
tex13:
Not enough money in it to interest anyone, the attitude of the medical establishment sucks sometimes.
clarkekid:
My best friend's grandma has type 1 as well. I've seen her go through many levels of high and low blood sugar levels. When it goes to far either way it does become a little frightening. I guess it's a good thing for me to learn about. You can never have too much knowledge about something.