• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

GCSE biology textbook - diabetes section...

Robinredbreast said:
Same here, type 1 and coeliac, it's not too bad, but can be a nightmare when I am eating out, I do check and double check that it is free from wheat, Gluten, Barley, Rye and Oats.
Click to expand...

Hi, we eat out at a gluten free bakery which does lunches too, we go especially for my son as I’m not fussed about eating pizza and stuff... but he misses his freshly baked “real” bread, focaccia and pizza. We have also found a restaurant which only serves gluten free perfect for Coeliacs as there is no risk of contamination.
Otherwise I am very wary of eating out.

I’m curious when I still ate pasta I found it raised my blood sugar quite quickly, being mainly maize and rice flour, do you find the same?
 

I tend to eat a small amount of pasta, so more bolognese than spaghetti and plenty of mushrooms. So yes it can raise me/spike me.
The restaurant and bakery sounds lovely, I too miss a bread roll, the smell and taste is just wonderful. I have made Fat head pizza which was really nice and went down well.
 

I’ll have to look up Fat head pizza! I have no idea what it means!!!
I’m finding more and more of that lately...
I’m forever googling to find out what they are talking about in comedy programmes ... a veritable education most of the time!!! I don’t know how my dad keeps up
 

https://www.dietdoctor.com/recipes/fat-head-pizza

Sorry If I appear to be derailing thread, it is unintentional
 
Robinredbreast said:
https://www.dietdoctor.com/recipes/fat-head-pizza

Sorry If I appear to be derailing thread, it is unintentional
Click to expand...
Fathead pizza is amazing. But with my allergy to cows milk, I have to make it with proper buffalo mozzarella which makes it prohibitively expensive. So if I want pizza I use a double portion of two minute bread - one portion is: 2tbsp almond flour, 1tbsp psyllium husk powder, 1rsp baking powder, 2 beaten eggs and plenty of seasoning - mixed and microwaved in an 8” silicone baking tin for 2.5 minutes (a single portion in a takeaway container takes two minutes, hence the name), then topped and baked as normal. One pizza does two dinners and the texture is quite bready - not as greasy as fathead dough.
 
Jim Lahey said:
people who have diabetes (the resistant variety) are strongly discouraged from monitoring their blood glucose concentrations. The [alleged] reasoning being that it causes anxiety.
Click to expand...

I see there has been some research to suggest that the anxiety caused causes BG and BP to rise. There was a time when my dad would test regularly but at the time he was told he could no longer get a prescription, he was also told he didn't have to test. This was right up my dad's street. Knowing he would only have to have an HbA1c annually he would eat like someone who didn't have diabetes for 9 months and then eat sensibly for the two to three months before the HbA1c. He is 92 in April and most of his problems are diabetes related. It didn't have to be that way if he had monitored more regularly, he even admitted to me that not monitoring meant he didn't worry or get anxious, so maybe being anxious is a good way to make people make the right choices.
 


I know how you feel about having a label. Being identified by a condition is debilitating in itself. People love to use labels to identify it gives them comfort! no matter how the person with the 'label' feels. And every 'label is so diverse and that is never considered Once upon a time your red hair would be the butt of many jokes
I have been lucky to be mum for a daughter with many labels. Sadly often people get the label wrong! And now blest with two grandchildren who have to be put under a label We need to campaign for a 'NO label using day' - 'see me for who I am day'
Don't let a word define you.
 


What a great opportunity to be an ambassador for diabetes and really give good knowledge and facts. Also about the importance of a health diet and exercise. I am sure you will make it fun and give the pupils something to store away for another day.
Good Luck
 
Guzzler said:
And this is for year 10-11? No wonder little is known about Diabetes (of any type) in the general population.
Click to expand...
I agree. It's one of the many time BBS waiting to explode I'm the face of the politicians who ignore diabetes.

So little is known about in the masses and many maybe walking around with it, untreated.

I do wonder if it's related to our lifestyle, including rubbish junk food


Sent from my EVA-L09 using Diabetes Forum mobile app
 
alan_diggers said:
rubbish junk food
Click to expand...

Even when junk food isn't part of one's life style there's problems and it's related to carb intake. It's not the same for everybody, my wife for example has to eat carbs for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Some people can tolerate more carbs than others. I'm not one of them and never have been, Shame I hadn't known sooner.
 
Ditch the book. it has been written in the context of enzymes. I sat with some 12 year olds revising for a test and heard one recite. T2 diabetes is caused by being overweight, nothing else. I stopped the class and asked the simple question: Are Miss C and myself overweight? No Miss. well we are both T2 diabetics. As a science teacher (actually a physics teacher), I really dislike simplifications that leave out the really important points. I hope the book covers diabetes elsewhere.
 
I suffered with awful stomach aches with metformin but have been taking SR for 9 years, no problem.

Of note, I can lowish carb but cannot high fat as it causes stomach pains. also nuts restricted and need high fibre as chemo tablets and blood thinners ( a chronic blood condition) cause all sorts of problems. Please explain to children that LCHF is working for many T2 but not all. Also, I am not overweight (UK size 8 trousers fall down if I breathe in!!)
 
Janet.h said:
I suffered with awful stomach aches with metformin
Click to expand...

You are not alone. The term I heard was absolute diarrhea. I had to stop but it was replaced with something (Rosiglitazone) that did even more damage including liver damage and excessive weight gain.
 
DavidGrahamJones said:
You are not alone. The term I heard was absolute diarrhea. I had to stop but it was replaced with something (Rosiglitazone) that did even more damage including liver damage and excessive weight gain.
Click to expand...

I absolutely refused to take anything that causes weight gain (the blood thinners already do that) and anything that I would need to inform the DVLA about e.g. side effects of hypos. I hope you find something that works.
Teaching does not let students explore these ideas. It is useful to teach something they should be aware of if it is likely to be 1 in 10 with T2 in the future.
 
Janet.h said:
I absolutely refused to take anything that causes weight gain (the blood thinners already do that) and anything that I would need to inform the DVLA about e.g. side effects of hypos.
Click to expand...
Always good to aim for . . . . . . . but if you were type I there is no choice and you would have to inform the DVLA. In my case I was still at that stage where I thought doctors knew best. Even when I was taken off Rosiglitazone (failing liver function), I lost a stone a month for 4 months when my BG was obviously going up and up. Had I ignored my GP's carb advice I'd be in a much better place, but he insisted I eat carbs and take Gliclazide, not only did my weight loss stop but I gained 10 kgs.
As this thread is about a section about diabetes in a GCSE.
 
Mel dCP said:
Goes without saying that I’ll be going into a bit more detail when we cover this!
Click to expand...
Just noticed a slight error in the text of that book. It says "Unfortunately insulin cannot be taken by mouth". Oral insulin has been around since 2009 at the latest. In fact my wife, who use to be a patent attorney, worked on some of the patents for the delivery of insulin in the form of a spray under the tongue. Not entirely sure why it never took off, it's possible that some doctors were not convinced of it's efficacy despite the results of thorough testing.
 

Well said. I have been known to say 'I don't care what you call it (the condition) just make me better'.
 

https://www.diabetes.co.uk/oral-insulin.html
 

Always best to be safe than sorry. I was promised a cure was on the doorstep 30 years ago, i know we have much better management and technology now, but a life with out multiple injections would be amazing, as my granddaughter was diagnosed with type 1 at 2 1/2 years old.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register
Cookies are required to use this site. You must accept them to continue using the site. Learn More.…