SOADI Frontline Training - CAMH - Nicotine Dependence Clinic

SOADI FRONTLINE TRAINING 5
What is Diabetes?
Objectives
By the end of this training session, participants will:
• Understand how diabetes affects our bodies, minds, spirits, and
emotions.
• Understand how diabetes affects First Nations, Inuit, and Métis
communities.
Diabetes prevalence is three to
five times higher among
Aboriginal people than among
the general Canadian population.
Health Canada 2009
Background
When we eat, our bodies break down food into a sugar called
glucose. This sugar is our main source of fuel and travels to all
parts of our bodies through the blood.
Insulin, a hormone produced by the pancreas, helps the sugar
enter into our cells. Some sugar is left in our blood as a back-up
supply. This sugar is referred to as our blood sugar and the amount
can be measured by a simple test.
Figure 1 The pancreas is the
body’s insulin-production centre.
High blood sugar can result in one of two circumstances:
1. When our pancreases cannot produce enough insulin.
2. When our bodies do not use insulin properly.
If the body’s cells do not use enough sugar and too much is left in
the blood, the result is a chronic disease called diabetes mellitus
(or just diabetes).
Diagnosis
Diabetes is diagnosed by blood tests designed to check your bloodglucose
level. These tests fall into one of three categories:
• FBS—a fasting blood glucose.
• RBS—a random blood glucose.
• OGTT—an oral glucose tolerance test.
Figure 2 The blue circle has
been the universal symbol for
diabetes since 2006.