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Tv miss understanding of diabetes

TrevorFisher

Active Member
Messages
31
Location
London
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Insulin
I get so annoyed about tv shows that try to portray a diabetic, but get things horribly wrong.

I’ve just watched one of the Majorca files, where a diabetic man gets abducted and locked in a cage.
He gets found later in the programme barely conscious, one of the detectives gives him a shot of insulin and all is well.
Of course that probably would have killed him, a little bit of research would have told them it was sugar that’s needed not insulin.
 
Could some Type 1's comment, is @TrevorFisher correct? What would be the consequences and timescale for the typical Type 1 in the common plot line that goes: young woman is kidnapped, or gets lost in the jungle, without her insulin?
 
I was told on a Red Cross course that you should give a small amount of sugar. If you are Hypo it will help resolve that. If you are Hyper then the extra sugar will make little difference. Meanwhile try to determine the real condition.
 
Did they actually say a shot of insulin or did they say a shot
which could actually mean a shot of glucagon ? Which is prescribed in a pen shot just like a medi pen for anaphylactic which I prescribed for diabetics pron to low blood sugar ? Just asking
 
He had dropped his insulin pen and she gave him a shot from it.
You didn’t see him being fed, the fact that he was semi conscious led me to believe they were implying a hypo
 
If they haven't had their insulin (either no bolus with food or missed a basal/mixed insulin injection) they'd be high, if they've had insulin but no food then likely to be hypo. It would depend on whether they take basal and bolus insulins or a mixed one I think. If they take bolus and basal I think if someone was abducted and hadn't been made to walk a fair way to where they were to be held then it's unlikely they'd be hypo, if they took a mixed insulin it may be a different story, but that's based on my own experience, others may disagree.
 

Hi,

It wouldn't get fixed in a trice if as high as a kite...
 
I always use the theory if I was to find a known diabetic unconscious , get the sugar down their neck ! It only takes a short time to go unconscious for not enough sugar in the system probably ( 30 mins max ) if untreated but , conversely it can take over a week with too much , plus adding extra sugar to a diabetic unconscious for hyperglycaemia ain’t gonna do much harm .
As a rule I don’t think a lot of research goes into some of the film work , depending on film type of course, let’s face it old Sylvester Stallone and gonna be getting his Libre out whilst shooting up 200 bad guys is he lol.it’s more of the word diabetes , and the normal attitude of the uneducated .
 

One word mate... "Species."
 
Just looked up the script! Definitely pumped him full of insulin. BBC programme. Maybe a few comments to them might be useful. Episode 5, series 2 - The Blue Feather
 
Fruitella said:
Just looked up the script! Definitely pumped him full of insulin. BBC programme. Maybe a few comments to them might be useful. Episode 5, series 2 - The Blue Feather
Click to expand...

All I know is. If I was screaming into DKA territory? It would take me longer than "Dances with Wolves," for a correction dose to pull me back in line...?
 
Someone explain to me what was going on in Con Air the guy reckoned he had about 30 mins if he didn’t have his insulin , hmm how does that work.?I’m sure I’ve lasted a lot longer hey I’m a super hero , and all this time I thought I was diabetic hehehe , just call me Jabber Man lol
 

No idea. But they had insulin 100s of years before Game of thrones & even Banting in the olden days..
The science is messed up. but to be fair I have come across the odd "love interest" that failed due to being an "expert" on the "sugar sickness."
The last one gleaned her knowledge, past down from her mother who worked in a retirement home?

 
Just off for my Covid jab, I hope they don't use a hypodermic like the one in the clip!
 
Mr_Pot said:
Could some Type 1's comment, is @TrevorFisher correct? What would be the consequences and timescale for the typical Type 1 in the common plot line that goes: young woman is kidnapped, or gets lost in the jungle, without her insulin?
Click to expand...

Based on what Trevor has said, yes, he IS correct although an extra shot of insulin wouldn't necessarily kill her there and then unless it was a massive overdose. That young woman (even if she had no food in the jungle) would be lucky to last more than a few days or less without her insulin. It's not even so much that with no food she may be able to cope without bolus, it's the basal! Poor woman, I hope she got rescued!
 
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Ha ha, I have no idea what they were on about with the insulin bit but I LOVE that film even though it is as daft as hell.
 
Mr_Pot said:
Just off for my Covid jab, I hope they don't use a hypodermic like the one in the clip!
Click to expand...
Believe it or not. i used some pretty big needles back when i was a kid..

Hope all went well for you with your jab.
 
me tooo!!! it drives me bonkers! far more likely to keel over from lows in the short term than just not having insulin one day
 
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