Type 2 Diabetes

For my Disease class, we learned about the different body systems and how they help the body work. Then we learned about diseases that affect one of those systems and some that affect many of the systems. Leading me to the Action Project, we had to find someone with a physical disease and interview them on how it affected them on a personal level, but we also had to do research on how the body was affected and learn the symptoms, causes, and effects on the body. The purpose of this was to learn more about diseases that affect the body, but also to see how people with a physical disease might deal with it. I chose my father to interview, because he has type 2 Diabetes, and even though he lives with me and I have seen how it has affected him, I wanted to learn more about and see more of how it has actually personal affected him. I thought this was Action Project was super effective to use in my life, because now I know more about the disease and I might be able to help my dad with it better.

Arthur:

My father is 55 and he was diagnose with Type 2 Diabetes 25 years ago. A couple of his first symptoms was that he was always drinking water and his feet would always have a tingling feeling in his them without them falling asleep, both of these being some of the most common symptoms seen. Now he actually didn't know he had it, until he cut himself shaving and the cut got infected and wasn't healing correctly, and my mother actually brought up that they need to get him tested for Diabetes. Now he isn't super sure on how he got the disease, but he had mention that his mother would feed him a lot of food, since he is Greek, a lot of the diet is eating carbohydrates.

Now his life is pretty much the same, and he always takes a shot before eating and takes a blood test after eating. This is so he can make sure his glucose level is average and not to high or low. Glucose is sugar, and it is the fuel for our cells, the pancreas is an organ that makes insulin and that is what tells the glucose to go to the cells in the body. Carbohydrates are a type of sugar that is more complex than glucose, and they are found in bread, rice, etc. Insulin will also carry this sugar to the blood for fuel. Eating a lot of these are a huge cause of Type 2 Diabetes. Type 2 Diabetes is where that insulin is either produced and the pancreas doesn't how to use it, or it can’t make it at all.

Our glucose level is measured in milligrams per deciliter, but that is the more precise way the doctors will measure it by. My dad tries to keep his blood level between 100 and 127. Those number when eating and not eating can change very drastically for a Diabetic. When the body's blood sugar level is too high it goes into a state of hyperglycemia and when this happens the person will get more thirsty or have to urinate more. When the body's blood sugar level is to low it goes in a state of hypoglycemia, which will make the person sweat, become pale, and make the person shaky. Having both of these can do a lot of bad stuff to the body, and both can lead to comas.

My father needs to take 27 insulin shots a day to keep his blood sugar level average, and really the only treatment he uses, besides having a monthly check up, he said, “I used to take 40 to 50 when I was younger, because I was a lot heavier but once I lost weight it went down.” I thought this was an important quote, because it shows how much the weight can affect the amount of insulin needed. The number of these shots a day are probably, because he likes to keep his diet of eating a lot of bread, so he to make sure it always balanced. Even with this disease he still lives his normal day and has had to cut some things from his life, but he always like to stay happy and not let his condition bring him down.


Type 2 Diabetes:

“The CDC notes that 90-95 percent of cases in adults involve Type 2 Diabetes.” says Health line. This shows that adults from 40 to 65 could develop Diabetes Type 2 in their lives. Now this disease can happen anywhere in the world no matter what the environment be, and is a multifactorial disease. It can passed on from genes, or people get it from taking in too much sugar that the body can’t handle. Some risk factors are, high intake of glucose, high intake of alcohol, and having high blood pressure. The ethnicity it is seen in most are, African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Japanese Americans, and Native Americans.

NVA "AA Type 2 Diabetes. 2014. GCE Lab School

This disease affects the endocrine system, because the pancreas is apart of that system and this disease makes the body not produce insulin to help the glucose be carried to the blood stream.

Next, this disease can affect the immune system and integumentary system, because the any cuts to the body take a slower time to heal properly and the skin around can't heal properly; making it more vulnerable to infections.

Then, the nervous system is also affected, because our body uses these things called capillaries and they are what help give blood to the parts of body, one being the nerves in our body. The blood has the fuel needed for that system and if it can’ receive that the nerves start to tingle.

Also it can affect the circulatory system, because that is what carries the cells that need to the fuel to fuel the body and if it can’t do that then, that raises risk of a heart attack or really high blood pressure.

Lastly it can affect the ocular system, because that is the system that helps protect the eye from any infections and it needs the fuel to operate properly and without it, it can cause bad damage to the eye and can make a person go blind, or develop cataracts. 

References:

“Causes of Type 2 Diabetes” WebMD. 2014

“Recognizing Type 2 Diabetes Symptoms” Healthline. 2014

“Tests and Diagnosis of Type 2 Diabetes” MayoClinic. 2014

“Age of Onset for Type 2 Diabetes” Healthline. 2015

Interview.AA. Personal.2014

What is Justice!

For Unit 1 of my Forbidden Books class, we learned about ancient Greece and how their life styles were influenced by the land and the knowledge that around them. One of the main things we went over was the father of philosophy Socrates and his Socratic method, which is the method he would use to learn more things about the world. The method was to ask questions about everything around him to learn about it and the different perspectives take it to have an idea about it. Back in ancient Greece that was considered dangerous, because he taught it to kids and parents didn’t like their kids asking too many questions, they found it as him corrupting the youth. It was also found dangerous because, it raised to much criticism in the community. For the action project we had to use this method on a certain topic and create a conversation between two people, with one person asking about that certain topic. The topic I chose was justice, since everyone has some many different views subject. Enjoy!

Characters:

• Arthur (Character 1, played by NVA)

• Gracius (Character 2, played by AA)

Setting - Dolipolis Cafe

NVA - Hey, Gracius you look very glad today, why is that?

AA - I am signing some papers, because I am the new supreme court judge, meaning I will be able to provide true justice.

NVA - That’s great, but why is that so great? What is true justice?

AA - Everyone knows that a judge does people justice for the person who needs it, so the plaintiff is who would need it. And true justice basically, is an appropriate punishment for a wrong doing.  

NVA - Yes, but, what about the defendant, do they not deserve the same justice given to the other person? And how do we know they did a wrong doing who is to tell?

AA - Well they don’t get the same justice because they broke their control over their justice when they did their wrongdoing, and the jury is to tell what justice they deserve.

NVA - Okay, but how do you know they deserve the “Justice” that is given, how is that truly determined?

AA - Well, that would be determined by evidence used to prove the fact if they deserve the punishment, and once there is enough, the jury is to say what they deserve and I will determine what will be done about the matter that needs to be resolved.

NVA - So justice is only proven by evidence and people without a law degree? That is Justice?

AA - Yes, but the evidence are facts, and people without a law degree are to say what they deserve, because they have common sense and knowledge about different things, and with that they can prove whether they are guilty or not.  Also they usually have different backgrounds giving the verdict more perspective, because of they were raised to think differently.

NVA - Yes, but everyone has different common sense and what if they are biased or have something very personal with the case and lie about it? Is that really what our Justice is based on today?

AA - Well I am sure that we would be able to tell if they are lying to us about it.

NVA - I can see where you are coming from, but I think there are more questions that need to be answered, and you have helped me a lot in understanding Justice! Thank you.

AA - You have definitely helped me think of my own version of justice and how I can make it better for everyone. Thank you for showing me this new idea and make sure you don’t lose control of your justice!

NVA - I will make sure!