Monday, April 27, 2015

Doesn't Splenda and Sugar Cause Diabetes?

With so many articles available regarding Type 2 diabetes, it's not uncommon for misinformation to surface regarding Type 1 and what might cause or prevent it's emergence.

Q:  Did you know drinking diet pop/splenda/too much sugar/fill in whatever thing you want, causes diabetes?

A:  No, there's nothing we fed our girls or didn't feed them; nothing we did or they did that CAUSED them to develop diabetes.  For some reason they had antibodies in their blood that when triggered - often from a virus of some sort - resulted in the immune system attacking the pancreas.  Hence they now have type 1 diabetes.  Even if we had fed them raw fruits and veggies their whole life, had never allowed them to ingest sugar, nor allowed them any swigs of diet pop, they'd still.  have.  type.  1.  diabetes.  Their body still would not produce insulin and therefore their cells would not receive the glucose it needs.

Foods we eat, drinks we consume, activities in which we take part -- none of these things CAUSE type 1 diabetes.  Genetics obviously play a part, but the medical profession doesn't really know WHAT causes it to surface or why some individuals develop antibodies and others don't; they just know it's an attack on the pancreas that cannot be prevented -- for now.  Research is being done attempting to figure out if there is a way to halt the onset or at least the progression of the death of the beta cells.  It's my hope, my prayer, they will figure that out and prevent others from suffering from this silent, but potentially deadly disease.

Q: Why are you so upset? They're fine.  They look healthy.  It's not THAT bad.

A:  Yes, they do look healthy and now that they have insulin they feel healthier.  However, this invisible, silent disease is predictably unpredictable.  Just because we have insulin to give them doesn't mean they are 'out of the woods'. They are never free from this disease.

The precarious tightrope walk in which we must balance in order to keep them feeling 'fine' is challenging, at best.  Too much insulin they drop low.  Too little they soar high. Both extremes are detrimental to their health and despite following all the 'rules' of carb counting and insulin ratios these spikes and valleys 'just happen'. Stress, hormones, specific foods, the weather.... can ALL impact how their bodies respond or don't respond to the insulin we give.  Plus, how their bodies respond to various situation may vary day to day; meal to meal; even moment to moment.

Today, exercise brings their blood sugar way low. Tomorrow?  A similar activity could cause them to elevate high. Same with foods they eat. What one day causes them to have great blood sugar numbers, may cause them to drop or rise the next time they eat that very same meal.  There's no rhyme or reason with type 1 diabetes.

Not to mention human error.  Something I experienced recently and it's quite frightening.  The girls receive 2 types of insulin daily.  They get Humolog - which is a short acting insulin that they take to allow the body to utilize glucose from the foods they eat.  They also take Lantus - a long acting insulin that acts as a 'basal rate' for keeping those ebbs and flows our body naturally goes through all day and night in balance. This insulin is 'always working' in the background and lasts approximately 24 hours.  This is given only once a day. Well... a few days ago, I was distracted and talking to Techno about the girls' ratios AS I gave Selah her insulin for breakfast.  Click click, I heard as I injected the insulin.  My brain spun. "Wait, this particular pen shouldn't be 'clicking' as I inject it."  Panic. I looked at the pen -- I had given her The. Wrong. Insulin.  Now she had 3 units of Lantus on board instead of 1 for the day.  Oh my heavens. What had I done?  Fortunately, she is getting a VERY low dose of this long lasting insulin so all we had to do was lessen her totals for her short acting insulin throughout the day and all was well.  But... the risk? It was real.  It was scary.  What a fine line we walk.  What if I had accidentally given her TRINITY'S dose - which is much higher?  It's a day to day stressor.  A meal to meal risk.

You see, these kids have lost feeling good when they aren't 'sick' with a cold or the flu.  Lows can result in 'feeling bad, shaky, hungry' initially; even lower and they can produce seizures or unconsciousness, lower still and death could result.  Often such lows can occur in their sleep when they won't be able to 'feel' the low and we won't be able to 'see' the effects of it.  That's when it's the most dangerous. The most scary. That's why mom's of T1D (often called D-moms) don't get much sleep.  (More on that in another question.)  Then there's the consequences of high blood sugar levels.  Short term, it may make the girls feel bad.  Lethargic.  Too high short term could result in ketones.  Large amounts of ketones for too long could result in Diabetic Ketoacidosis and hospitalization.  Severe highs could result in brain damage.  Even death.  Long term highs on a consistent basis results in chronic damage to the blood vessels.  Such damage can cause long term complications.  Eye bleeds.  Poor circulation.  Kidney failure and the need for dialysis.  These shifts in highs and lows?  What a toll it takes on their little bodies; any day.... every day.  So, even though they look fine, they're actually fighting this disease day in and day out.

No matter how diligent we are; how well we strive to manage their blood sugars; let's face it, we are NOT a pancreas;  we cannot do what God designed the pancreas to do as well as He designed it to work; they will experience highs and lows.

All these things are losses.

Loss  of security - death is a very real danger and concern.

Loss of peace of mind as their health is MUCH MORE precarious now post diagnosis than it was prior to diagnosis.

Loss of ANY feeling of control we THOUGHT we had over their health.

Loss of knowing they are 'fine' most of the time.

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