Q. Can you suggest a
few holiday gifts for someone who has diabetes?
A. Sure! Here are several
diabetes-friendly gift ideas:
- Exercise videos or a health
club membership.
- A massage.
- A bicycle or other piece
of exercise equipment.
- A romantic date that
includes dinner plus a night of dancing or tickets to a show.
- Assorted low carbohydrate
snacks and a diabetes-friendly cookbook arranged in a new piece of
cookware.
- A selection of relaxing music
CD’s.
- Slippers and a robe. Choose slippers that have solid soles as
people with diabetes must protect their feet from cuts and other injuries
that invite infections.
- A new diabetes book.
- Make a donation in your
friend’s honor to the International Diabetes Federation’s Life for a
Child Program. This program supports
the care of close to 1100 children with diabetes in more than 18 countries
worldwide. Their website is
www.lifeforachild.idf.org
Q. I get a flu shot
every fall. A friend told me she got a
pneumonia shot also. Do I need that too?
A. According to the
American Diabetes Association, people with diabetes are three times more likely
to die from pneumonia than those without diabetes. You can take a pneumonia shot anytime during
the year. A single shot will protect
most people for their entire lifetime.
Ask your doctor if a pneumonia shot is right for you.
Q. Can I ski while
wearing an insulin pump? What if I fall?
A. Your pump can
definitely join you on the slopes. Pump
cases are made from a plastic similar to the type used for motorcycle helmets. They tolerate bumps quite well, so you
needn’t worry about taking a fall. You can also purchase a comfortable holder
from your pump company, so your pump will stay on securely.
Athletic activity requires an adjustment in insulin delivery
rate as exercise usually lowers blood sugar levels. Also,
very cold or windy conditions may intensify the blood-glucose lowering effect,
so monitor your blood sugar level often.
Some experts recommend the following:
- Reduce your
mealtime boluses by 10-30% for all-day or intense skiing and snowboarding.
- Reduce your
basal insulin rates by 25-50% for the entire day.
- If needed, eat 10-15
grams of additional carbohydrate per hour.
Q. Who discovered
insulin?
A. The discovery of
insulin is a great story. The year was
1921. In a poorly equipped,
long-forgotten lab in Toronto, Canada, Dr. Frederick Banting and Charles H.
Best began their research. They were
given about eight weeks to prove Banting’s belief that the pancreas contained a
magical substance that could prevent diabetes.
Using the money from the sale of Banting’s car, the researchers started
their work. The first few weeks were
terribly disappointing. Finally, as the
seventh week approached, a breakthrough happened. Banting isolated the “anti-diabetic factor”
and demonstrated its ability to lower blood sugar in diabetic dogs.
Banting was awarded a Nobel Prize for medicine with Dr. John
J. MacLeod, who provided the research lab.
Upset that his associate, Charles Best, had been slighted, Banting
shared his Nobel Prize with him. Later,
Banting was knighted by the Queen and became Sir Frederick Grant Banting. In 1922, Banting and Best became associated
with Eli Lilly and the commercial production of insulin for human use began.
- For more great articles by Janis Roszler, visit the e-version of our magazine at walgreensdiabetes.com
No comments:
Post a Comment