Diabetics on TV and films!

[Robo42]

Anytime on TV or in a film when a diabetic loses their insulin or gets lost and becomes ill, the first thing they seem to give them is a sweet drink or sugary foods. Surely this is bad and could give people a wrong idea about diabetics?

 

[noblehead]

Surely could, rarely do they get it right............

 

[Emile_the_rat]

Anytime on TV or in a film when a diabetic loses their insulin or gets lost and becomes ill, the first thing they seem to give them is a sweet drink or sugary foods. Surely this is bad and could give people a wrong idea about diabetics?

When people need insulin their often type 1 diabetic, which means they will suffer from a severe hypo if they go too long without energy. If a type 1 diabetic get lost they can in fact get ill from a severe hypo, which means they need to get something sweet or sugary, or they would die.
I think your example shows that movies do great at showing how diabetes for type 1's work. What I rather hate are people who mix up type 1 and type 2 diabetes for being the same disease, when they're in fact are completely different.

 

[GrantGam]

When people need insulin their often type 1 diabetic, which means they will suffer from a severe hypo if they go too long without energy. If a type 1 diabetic get lost they can in fact get ill from a severe hypo, which means they need to get something sweet or sugary, or they would die.
I think your example shows that movies do great at showing how diabetes for type 1's work. What I rather hate are people who mix up type 1 and type 2 diabetes for being the same disease, when they're in fact are completely different.

Type 2's sometimes need insulin too. Depending on how resistant their bodies are to the hormone.

I'm a type 1 diabetic and would definitely not suffer from a severe hypo if I were to "go too long without energy". What in fact would happen is the following:

-I'd have gone too long without energy...
-I would be extremely concerned that I was lost
-My blood sugars would continue to rise for the duration wherein I have no access to basal/bolus insulin. Until I die.

N.B. - No something sweet or sugary needed.

Varients of diabetes getting mixed up can prove a real problem. But why do you hate people who mix up type 1 and type 2 diabetes? You're right, they are different diseases - however - I don't feel I hate one or the other?

Grant

 

[Emile_the_rat]

Type 2's sometimes need insulin too. Depending on how resistant their bodies are to the hormone.

I'm a type 1 diabetic and would definitely not suffer from a severe hypo if I were to "go too long without energy". What in fact would happen is the following:

-I'd have gone too long without energy...
-I would be extremely concerned that I was lost
-My blood sugars would continue to rise for the duration wherein I have no access to basal/bolus insulin. Until I die.

N.B. - No something sweet or sugary needed.

Varients of diabetes getting mixed up can prove a real problem. But why do you hate people who mix up type 1 and type 2 diabetes? You're right, they are different diseases - however - I don't feel I hate one or the other?

Grant

Well that's different from each diabetic. I have friends and family with type 1 diabetic, and if they have given themself to much insulin in the first place, and also use a lot of energy they will suffer from a severe hypo.

It's great that you can control your levels good enough to never experience a hypo, but a fact are that many type 1 diabetics have problems with controlling their blood suger, and that can end in a severe hypo if they get lost without any food or suppliments.

Just because you don't struggle with that, does not mean all type 1's will suffer from a hyper if they got lost without food or medicine. Some would suffer from hypos to, because they use more insulin, or because they have brittle diabetes. Just trying to say that the movie example in this post are not completely wrong, but rather true in some cases for some type 1's (but not all).

 

[Squire Fulwood]

https://adland.tv/commercials/one-touch-ultra-bb-king-2003-030-usa

Well that was a nice advert but I don't understand what it's has to do with the thread.

 

[Robinredbreast]

Well that was a nice advert but I don't understand what it's has to do with the thread.

Loved BB King and now know he has diabetes.

 

[Robinredbreast]

Anytime on TV or in a film when a diabetic loses their insulin or gets lost and becomes ill, the first thing they seem to give them is a sweet drink or sugary foods. Surely this is bad and could give people a wrong idea about diabetics?

That's why I have wrist band that says Type 1 diabetic and a necklace which says, I HAVE DIABETES
please test my blood before treating me. I want to live a few more decades yet

 

[SunnyExpat]

So, what's the best course of action.
No access to emergency services, no test kit.

Give glucose.
Inject insulin.
Do nothing.

What would you prefer?

I know you'll say ring 999, but put that in 'do nothing', if you're in the middle of the mountains, or somewhere without a phone signal, so you're effectively saying wait hours until paramedics or a medivac arrives, without taking action.

It will be interesting to see what type 1's really want to have done.

 

[Diakat]

Give me the sugar (please).

 

[catapillar]

So, what's the best course of action.
No access to emergency services, no test kit.

Give glucose.
Inject insulin.
Do nothing.

What would you prefer?

I know you'll say ring 999, but put that in 'do nothing', if you're in the middle of the mountains, or somewhere without a phone signal, so you're effectively saying wait hours until paramedics or a medivac arrives, without taking action.

It will be interesting to see what type 1's really want to have done.

Why would a type 1 be in the middle of nowhere without their test kit, but with their insulin& their hypo treatment? That stuff stays together so I'm not sure how that would happen...

If I'm unconscious and you aren't a medical professional then nothing - unless you are especially keen on killing me via choking by trying to get an unconcious person to eat (if there was jam or honey for bucal administration of glucose that might be worth a try) or giving me an insulin overdose.

If you are not a medical professional and aren't trained/familiar with the drug you should never be injecting anyone with anything, again unless you are particularly keen on killing them. Unless it's an epipen and they are doing clear holding their throat gestures - you shouldn't be rummaging in someone's handbag, finding some insulin and deciding it would be a good idea to inject them with some random number of units (which is what the films show, dial the flex pen all the way up and inject, the flex pens dial up to 60 units, which is more than twice my total daily dose of insulin and if given all at once when I was already low enough to require assistance would almost certainly kill me).

If someone is conscious, but seemingly out of it and unable to test but you know they are diabetic you should give glucose. Low blood sugar can quite quickly lead to unconcious was and can be easily avoided with a bit of sugar. If you were wrong and they were in fact out of it because they were hyper, a little bit of extra sugar pushing them a little bit higher isn't going to do them any harm so long as the next step is get them tested and get them to medical assistance and some insulin.

 

[SunnyExpat]

Why would a type 1 be in the middle of nowhere without their test kit, but with their insulin& their hypo treatment? That stuff stays together so I'm not sure how that would happen...

If I'm unconscious and you aren't a medical professional then nothing - unless you are especially keen on killing me via choking by trying to get an unconcious person to eat (if there was jam or honey for bucal administration of glucose that might be worth a try) or giving me an insulin overdose.

If you are not a medical professional and aren't trained/familiar with the drug you should never be injecting anyone with anything, again unless you are particularly keen on killing them. Unless it's an epipen and they are doing clear holding their throat gestures - you shouldn't be rummaging in someone's handbag, finding some insulin and deciding it would be a good idea to inject them with some random number of units (which is what the films show, dial the flex pen all the way up and inject, the flex pens dial up to 60 units, which is more than twice my total daily dose of insulin and if given all at once when I was already low enough to require assistance would almost certainly kill me).

If someone is conscious, but seemingly out of it and unable to test but you know they are diabetic you should give glucose. Low blood sugar can quite quickly lead to unconcious was and can be easily avoided with a bit of sugar. If you were wrong and they were in fact out of it because they were hyper, a little bit of extra sugar pushing them a little bit higher isn't going to do them any harm so long as the next step is get them tested and get them to medical assistance and some insulin.

Ok, 1 for do nothing, it's their own fault if they don't have all the supplies, and don't look in their handbag if you find them unconscious in the middle of nowhere.
Would you accept being manhandled into the recovery position before I walked off for assistance?

 

[SunnyExpat]

Give me the sugar (please).

1 for glucose.

 

[catapillar]

You can look in my hand bag if you want - my point is don't find the drugs in there and think it would be a good idea to administer them without a clue what you were doing - that is not first aid. @SunnyExpat did you read the last paragraph of my post you quoted? TLDR; If unsure re levels and they are conscious, give sugar.

@Shar67 came up with a great first aid reminder for insulin dependent diabetics:

If I'm low, sugar pronto
If I'm high, unlikely to die
If you don't know, 999s the way to go

 

[JohnEGreen]

Well that was a nice advert but I don't understand what it's has to do with the thread.

Well as the thread is titled diabetics on TV and in films what is not to understand it was a diabetic in a commercial on TV.

 

[SunnyExpat]

You can look in my hand bag if you want - my point is don't find the drugs in there and think it would be a good idea to administer them without a clue what you were doing - that is not first aid. @SunnyExpat did you read the last paragraph of my post you quoted? TLDR; If unsure re levels and they are conscious, give sugar.

@Shar67 came up with a great first aid reminder for insulin dependent diabetics:

If I'm low, sugar pronto
If I'm high, unlikely to die
If you don't know, 999s the way to go

So, what do you do if there isn't a 999 for hours, you can't just gloss it out.
And who knows you may be conscious or unconscious?
What do you reckon would have least chance of ensuring you die?

 

[catapillar]

So, what do you do if there isn't a 99 for hours, you can't just gloss it out.
And who knows you may be conscious or unconscious?
What do you reckon would have least chance of ensuring you die?

A: not putting myself in your weird artificial situation of being in the middle of nowhere with no testing facilities, and apparently someone who knows nothing about diabetes - if I was going hiking etc I would ensure my companions had a bit of diabetic education first. I would also have a means of testing my blood sugar.

This might sound like an interesting/entertaining possibility for you to consider. But can you see why I don't think of it that way? "What do you reckon would have the least chance of ensuring you die" is more than a little bit of an insensitive way to phrase your query. I do carry around potentially lethal drugs with me, all day everyday. Film/tv first aid for diabetics usually involves injecting them with all the insulin, that is not only not the advised first aid step, but realistically could kill me.

So, in real life, first aid advice is:

If unconcious - check airways, pluse, put in recovery position, call ambulance - just as you would if you found anyone else unconcious in the street. If you find something that says they are diabetic, inform emergency services.

If concious but not "with it" and you know they are diabetic 1) see if you can get them/help them to test blood sugar; 2) if they can't/won't test give sugar and seek paramedic assistance if not resolving quickly ; 3) if they test and are less than 4 give sugar and seek paramedic assistance if not resolving quickly; 4) if they test and are 4-12 it's not a blood sugar problem, maybe it's a stroke vary your first aid rout accordingly; 5) if they test and are over 20, but out of it an unable to self treat with insulin, call 999.

 

[SunnyExpat]

A: not putting myself in your weird artificial situation of being in the middle of nowhere with no testing facilities, and apparently someone who knows nothing about diabetes - if I was going hiking etc I would ensure my companions had a bit of diabetic education first. I would also have a means of testing my blood sugar.

This might sound like an interesting/entertaining possibility for you to consider. But can you see why I don't think of it that way? "What do you reckon would have the least chance of ensuring you die" is more than a little bit of an insensitive way to phrase your query. I do carry around potentially lethal drugs with me, all day everyday. Film/tv first aid for diabetics usually involves injecting them with all the insulin, that is not only not the advised first aid step, but realistically could kill me.

So, in real life, first aid advice is:

If unconcious - check airways, pluse, put in recovery position, call ambulance - just as you would if you found anyone else unconcious in the street. If you find something that says they are diabetic, inform emergency services.

If concious but not "with it" and you know they are diabetic 1) see if you can get them/help them to test blood sugar; 2) if they can't/won't test give sugar and seek paramedic assistance if not resolving quickly ; 3) if they test and are less than 4 give sugar and seek paramedic assistance if not resolving quickly; 4) if they test and are 4-12 it's not a blood sugar problem, maybe it's a stroke vary your first aid rout accordingly; 5) if they test and are over 20, but out of it an unable to self treat with insulin, call 999.

Ok, you wouldn't be in the situation, and believe you have perfect control of every eventuality that may happen in your life, and never going beyond cell coverage.
That may not be applicable to all though, so it will be interesting to here if others can see any eventually they can't control to 100%, all the time.
But thanks for your view.

 

[catapillar]

@SunnyExpat thank you so much for pointing out how my diabetes has the potential to limit safe spontaneity in my life and the ways in which I might die if I got into trouble and the wrong person decided to try out a bit of first aid.

I would be very grateful if you would take a moment to consider your audience when asking these questions and consider whether the way in which you have phrased them are in keeping with the supportive aims of the forum. Also consider whether failing to in anyway acknowledge that I had highlighted that I felt the way you had previously phrased your query was insensitive was, well, actually very nice.

It's nice to be curious and interested. It's also nice to be nice

 

[SunnyExpat]

@SunnyExpat thank you so much for pointing out how my diabetes has the potential to limit safe spontaneity in my life and the ways in which I might die if I got into trouble and the wrong person decided to try out a bit of first aid.

I would be very grateful if you would take a moment to consider your audience when asking these questions and consider whether the way in which you have phrased them are in keeping with the supportive aims of the forum. Also consider whether failing to in anyway acknowledge that I had highlighted that I felt the way you had previously phrased your query was insensitive was, well, actually very nice.

It's nice to be curious and interested. It's also nice to be nice

It's a thread discussing the response seen in films.
So, while it may be sensitive, it's far better to actually discuss the correct response, rather than simply limit the discussion to the nice parts where the film never gets shown.
I already know what my response would be, I was wondering what you expect the untrained to do for you. You've made it clear, nothing, but I wouldn't expect all to agree with that, particularly if there was no other help coming.