Activity 2.1.1 Diagnosing Diabetes

Background Diabetes is one of the top 3 health issues facing American citizens in the 21st century About 25.8 million Americans currently have diabetes and another 79 million are thought to be pre-diabetic 5082 new cases are diagnosed everyday in the US In the United States, billions of dollars are spent each year on health care costs related to treatment of diabetes

How do you know if someone has diabetes? It is normal for your blood to contain trace amounts of glucose Glucose is used by the body as fuel for everyday activities Usually, the amount of glucose in your urine is too low to be detected If urinary testing shows high levels of glucose or if a patient is complaining about excessive thirst or urination, they will be sent for additional testing to rule out the possibility of suffering from diabetes This type of testing is called glucose tolerance testing and it is used to monitor the amount of sugar in the plasma of your blood over a short period of time; it gives doctors the information they need regarding how your body utilizes sugar

Patient history In this example, you are given the histories of 2 patients potentially facing diabetes Patient A is an overweight 27 year old woman who has noticed she is always thirsty and has occasional unreasonable mood swings. She sits at her desk at work for 8-10 hours per day. She only exercises 1 or 2 times each week. Patient A doesn’t think anyone in her family has ever had diabetes. Her routine urinalysis was normal. Patient B is a 48 year old man who has been noticing an increase in thirst and urination. He has experienced 2 fainting spells. He currently takes medicine for high blood pressure and high cholesterol and he rarely exercises. He enjoys a very carbohydrate-heavy diet and thinks that his grandma and an uncle both suffered from diabetes. His routine urinalysis showed that he had ketones in his urine. Anna Garcia is an active 14 year old girl who is generally healthy other than being diagnosed with sickle cell disease as a baby. She has been feeling fatigued and the inability to complete her usual activities without needing to take a break. She has noted an increase in her thirst and she has reportedly been using the restroom more than usual. Anna has also lost more than 10 pounds since her last visit to the doctor.

Glucose tolerance test All three patients (Patient A, Patient B, and Anna Garcia) have been sent to undergo the glucose tolerance testing. They were not allowed to eat or drink anything for 12 hours prior to their appointments First, at the appointment, each patient got their blood taken so the doctors could be provided with a baseline blood glucose level Next, each patient drank a concentrated sugar solution More blood was later drawn and the level of glucose in the blood was being monitored at varying time intervals to show how glucose was broken down by their body Normally, blood glucose doesn’t rise much from baseline and returns to normal within two to three hours

Do they have diabetes? After collecting the data, you were able to determine if the patients were suffering from diabetes Here are your results: Patient A: No diabetes Patient B: Diabetes Anna Garcia: Diabetes

Types of diabetes There are two types of diabetes Type 1 Type 2 Each causes high blood sugar levels The hormone insulin is produced to help cells take in glucose found in the blood Type 1 Your body doesn’t produce insulin Type 2 Your body produces insulin, but the body begins to not notice this hormone, therefore it cannot complete its job To test to see what type of diabetes a patient has, you must test the level of insulin in their blood

Insulin level testing After testing each patient’s insulin levels, you were able to determine what type of diabetes they had Patient A: No diabetes Patient B: Type 2 diabetes Anna Garcia: Type 1 diabetes