School Project

[perkeyo]

I just had a project in school in school where our group was stranded on a tropical island and we had to figure out how we were going to survive. Needless to say, I have diabetes and i found survival seems almost impossible for me over a month or 2.

We should probably all step back and think about how lucky we are to have insulin and meters. It really makes diabetes manageable. Even though it sucks so much to have it, at least we aren't living in the stone age.

[lelggren]

Good point! I agree with you. We have it so much easier than what other's have had in years past. I have recently learned that the ancient Egyptians knew about diabetes too, and they had their own way of finding out how much sugar a person was holding....They used to actually drink people's urine to find out how much sugar there was in it. I will be forever grateful for the luxuries that we have today :)



I just had a project in school in school where our group was stranded on a tropical island and we had to figure out how we were going to survive. Needless to say, I have diabetes and i found survival seems almost impossible for me over a month or 2.

We should probably all step back and think about how lucky we are to have insulin and meters. It really makes diabetes manageable. Even though it sucks so much to have it, at least we aren't living in the stone age.

[rzrbks]

I will be forever grateful for the luxuries that we have today


Where's your sense of adventure?

[someone]

I have recently learned that the ancient Egyptians knew about diabetes too, and they had their own way of finding out how much sugar a person was holding....They used to actually drink people's urine to find out how much sugar there was in it.

Somehow I do not believe that.. what is the point of knowing how much sugar there is if you cannot do anything about it? Are you going to tell me that the egyptians had man made insulin too?

[Penny]

Years ago I read a SciFi book where after a certain age Diabetics were not allowed to buy insulin. I think no one with an illness that required maintenance medication, was allowed to purchase it. After a certain age, you just died or suffered. There was a big black market for medications of any kind. I don't remember the cut off age, except thinking at the time, I would be a "goner". Just makes me think, if we had some kind of disaster.....WW3, etc. with shortages, where would that leave us? Just one more thing to give us a case of Anxiety! :hmmmm:

[seacomp]

what is the point of knowing how much sugar there is if you cannot do anything about it?
Egyptian and some other ancient medical practices had a form of triage; they would divide patients into those who they could cure, those who perhaps they could cure, and the hopeless. They would take cases in only the first two categories, charging more for the second. You can guess what category diabetes feel into.

[Funnygrl]

Yeah, they actually did do this. I wouldn't say they drank it, but they did taste it.

[psilocybin]

wow, i wonder how they discovered diabetes. interesting

[Cinnabon]

Ive had an actual dream/nightmare about something similar.:ahhhhh:

[Georgia]

As a big fan of "Lost" I'm now slightly worried that something could happen to the plane (am flying to NZ soon) & I lose all my insulin etc :afraid:

I know you have more chance of being run over by a bus but I can't get the thought out of my head :ahhhhh:

[seacomp]

I don't watch TV so I'm not sure what 'lost' is, but I can guess. You can kept you insulin physically on you. And you should also have scripts for your insulin/syringes in case of emergency.

[lelggren]

I work with a couple of diabetic educators that have shared this story with me about the egyptians. I am not sure if they drank it like it was chocolate milk, but they did taste it to see how much sugar was in it.



Somehow I do not believe that.. what is the point of knowing how much sugar there is if you cannot do anything about it? Are you going to tell me that the egyptians had man made insulin too?

[Eri's mom]

I actually heard something quite similar to the Egyptian thing as well.

I know I've thought of all that w/ Eri, that's why I am glad we keep the extra supplies(I actually have to re-up soon)...especially w/ watching "Lost"...and dealing w/ those hurricanes while living in FL...

[Georgia]

I don't watch TV so I'm not sure what 'lost' is, but I can guess. You can kept you insulin physically on you. And you should also have scripts for your insulin/syringes in case of emergency.

But if something happened nobody knows if your belongings would remain with you or not :(

[rea]

well . . . I suppose some of us could get by by eating only proteins (fish?) for a while, and vegetation . . . excersize and fruit for a low sugars, temporarily. thank goodness most of the plane routes cross populated areas, hugh?

but type 2 diabetes was way less common, its a problem created by the western diet post industrial age.

If you ever find yourself on a plane occupied by 99% buff, fit, gorgeous people like on Lost or Survivor, get off it quick! thats the plane that will crash and become a tv show!

or maybe you'll end up being the person who miraculously finds insulin made from a strange tropical plant so you can live long enough to sleep with the alcoholic pilot, deliver a baby, navigate a strange map and find lost gold, then be pushed off a cliff by a jealous ex lover. hee hee!

:)

no, seriously. egyptians dealt with diabetes by spirituality, herbs and diet, but mostly by the time people were diagnosed, they were too ill and usually wasted away and died. its very disturbing, but at least it gives us a reminder to be thankful for the technology of today. I have to only see a picture of the origional insulin needles to do that!

[DeusXM]

Ancient Greek and Egyptian medicine were both very familiar with diabetes. They didn't know what it was, what caused it or how to treat it, but they were aware of the symptoms and what it meant. Allegedly the correlation was made when it was noticed that ants tended to congregate around pools of urine left by both people and animals with diabetes.

Indeed, the term 'diabetes mellitus' means 'sugary fountain', which refers directly to its most obvious symptom and its method of discovery. It's only been in the last 50 years or so that we've actually moved away from urine testing, and we still use it for ketones.

A lot of people don't realise that the ancient world was familiar with a lot of diseases which we wouldn't have credited them with, and although frequently the causes of disease remained a mystery, they could accurately diagnose and even treat serious conditions. For instance, treppaning actually works in relieving certain permenant headaches. Much ancient Greek medical knowledge was largely lost in Europe following the collapse of the Roman empire and to be honest we have to be grateful to the Arabs for preserving vast tracts of medical knowledge during the Dark Ages.

[Rachey128]

all i have to say is

SIR FREDERICK BANTING IS MY HERO! :D

[Lorna]

This thread is making me think of the current UK drama- Life on Mars, and what it would be like to travel back to 1973.