What is diabetes?

If you have seen someone who is overweight or someone who doesn't appear to take care of their body, chances are you have heard someone say that they probably have or will soon contract diabetes. That statement isn't wrong, but it's not completely correct.

Yes, if you don't take care of your body, don't exercise, and consume too much sugar, you have a higher risk of contracting what is known in the medical field as Type-2 Diabetes. This is the most common type of diabetes. When you eat, your pancreas produces insulin (hormone produced by pancreas) to break down the sugars in your body in order to regulate your blood sugar (blood glucose). However, your pancreas can only do so much. Eventually, if you keep pouring excess amounts of glucose (sugar) into your body, your pancreas will not be able to keep up and will not be able to produce enough insulin. This eventually leads to a high blood glucose or blood sugar level that makes you feel lethargic and nauseous.

That is a very loose description of Type-2 Diabetes, a disease that people often use in a negative context.

But, as I'm sure you're wondering, there is also a type-1 diabetes, and it affects millions in America and around the world.

Type-1 diabetes is similar to type-2, but it has its major differences. The big differences is that type-2 can be avoided as it is often self inflicted (though not always). Type-1 is a disease one can be born with or one can contract as late as age 30. Type-1 is not self-inflicted; it happens when the pancreas' insulin producing cells are attacked by the body's own immune system. This causes the pancreas to stop producing insulin and for the person's blood sugar levels to rise.

Type-1 usually affects children or people ages 20 and under, though people over 20 are still at risk. Type-2 can be contracted by anyone, but it is often associated with the elderly simply because type-2 can come as one gets older and the body starts to slow down.

Now, the majority of diabetics on college campuses are type-1, and the reason you may not notice them at first is because the disease eventually becomes second nature to manage. There is no cure for type-1 diabetes (yet), but it can be managed and one can live a very healthy lifestyle while living with it.

Here are some of the gadgets you may see a type-1 diabetic use.

Blood Glucose Meter/ Testing strips

This is what type-1 diabetics use to see where their blood sugar level is. They use a lancet pen to prick their finger, then they apply a small amount of blood to the strip. The meter will read the blood glucose level, and then diabetic will go from there. Typically, a diabetic wants to have a blood sugar between 90-120. If you see that your diabetic friend has a blood sugar below 80, get them some orange juice. If the blood sugar is over 250, they'll need some fast acting insulin to bring that blood sugar level down.

Insulin/Syringes

Yes, diabetics use scary needles. There are two types of insulin that a diabetic will use, long-acting and short-acting. If the person is on shots or pens, they will use both types, but when on an insulin pump, they will only use short-acting. Long-acting insulin (Lantus, Levimir) will make sure the diabetics blood sugar will stay regulated throughout the day. Usually a diabetic will have to take this once or twice in a 24-hour period. If a diabetic eats food with a large amount of carbohydrates in it, the long-acting will not cover that. This is where the short-acting comes in. Using calculations specific to the person, a diabetic will use short acting insulin to cover the amount of carbohydrates they eat. When you see a diabetic giving themselves a shot, they don't have a drug problem; they're just getting ready to eat food.

Insulin Pump

This gadget has improved so many lives for those living with type-1. Instead of using long-acting insulin, this gadget will just pump little bits of short acting insulin into your body throughout the day; then when it comes time to eat, you can enter the amount of carbs you eat and blood sugar level, and it will calculate the insulin for you! No, it is not an iPod!

Insulin Pen

Glucagon

I hope you never have to see this used in action, but this is a glucagon used to raise a diabetics blood sugar when it won't come up for whatever reason. This is used when a diabetic's blood sugar is dropping at a very fast rate and the diabetic is having a seizure. It raises the blood sugar level significantly and is only used in emergencies.

We're not so different, you and I.

The facts and tools are only a fraction of what is involved with this disease, but the message I want to get across is that type-1 diabetics are really not that different from someone with a working pancreas. I say this because this guy...

...pretty much screwed type-1 diabetics' social lives when these commercials came out. I'll get a little personal for a moment: I was diagnosed in the third grade with type-1 diabetes, and it was hard adjusting. This guy didn't help the situation. Wilfred Brimley's "Diabeetus" commercials had all the kids at school thinking I was an old man who ate too much candy. Picture being 8 years old and kids are dancing around you like little demon-elves singing, "Diabeetus, diabetes, diadiadiabeeuts." I don't know for the life of me why that generation says "diabeetus" and not diabetes, but that old Santa Clause-looking bag does not represent me!

Getting back on track, here is the analogy I use when describing this disease to people, and this is what I want people to take away from this article:

Picture your body as a car. If you don't have diabetes, you have an automatic transmission; however, if you have type-1 diabetes, you have a manual transmission. You still can get from point A to point B, just the person driving the stick-shift needs to do a little more work.

And that's the reality of the situation. Type-1 diabetics can do the same things a normal person can. They can eat the same things a normal person can. They just need to test their blood sugar and give themselves some insulin. They need to switch gears in order for the car to still run, while the rest of you have the car do it for you. We still get to our destinations and we still achieve our goals.