I was talking with a friend and they asked some question about my insulin pump or something and I realized I’d never explained diabetes to him.  I did, and he said, “you explained this in 15 minutes better than it’s ever been explained to me. You should blog it.”

我正在和一个朋友聊天，他们问了一些有关我的胰岛素泵的问题，我意识到我从未向他解释过糖尿病。 我做到了，他说：“您在15分钟内对这个问题的解释比对我的解释要好。 您应该写博客。”

So I have a place to point people (and you do too!) here’s:

因此，我有一个指向别人的地方(您也可以这样做)：

基础： (The Basics: )

There are two types of Diabetics:

糖尿病有两种类型：

• Type I – also called Juvenile Diabetes or Youth-Onset or Insulin Dependant (IDDM).  These folks ALWAYS use Insulin.  If someone says “I’m Type I” you I型-也称为青少年糖尿病或青年发作或胰岛素依赖(IDDM)。 这些人总是使用胰岛素。 如果有人说“我是I型”，您就know they知道他们正在inject insulin. 注射胰岛素。
• Type II – also called Adult-Onset or Non-Insulin Dependant (NIDDM) II型-也称为成人发作或非胰岛素依赖(NIDDM)

They are so different it’s a shame they are both called Diabetes.

他们是如此的不同以至于他们都被称为糖尿病。

• Type I – Typically these folks I型–通常，这些人don’t produce any (or much) of their own insulin.  If I don’t make it, I need to get it somewhere. 自己不会产生任何(或很多)胰岛素。 如果我没有做到，我需要把它弄到某个地方。
• Type II – These folks typically have II型-这些人通常decreased responsiveness to their own insulin.  If they aren’t using their own insulin well, they need to be made more sensitive to it.  As with any drug, the more you take, the more you need.  If you’re a big carbo eater your whole life, you’ll produce a lot of insulin, and chances are you’ll eventually become resistant to your own insulin. 对自己的胰岛素的React性下降。 如果他们没有很好地使用自己的胰岛素，则需要使其对胰岛素更加敏感。 与任何药物一样，您服用的越多，就越需要。 如果您一生都是大量食用碳水化合物的人，则会产生大量的胰岛素，而且您最终可能会对自己的胰岛素产生抵抗力。

“Worldwide, there are about 171 million diabetics, but only about 10 percent of those have Type 1 diabetes. The vast majority have Type 2 diabetes, which is linked to obesity. In the United States, about 900,000 to 1.8 million people have Type 1 diabetes, the American Diabetes Association says.” [Wired]

“在全球范围内，大约有1.71亿糖尿病患者，但只有大约10％患有1型糖尿病。 绝大多数患有与肥胖有关的2型糖尿病。 美国糖尿病协会说，在美国，约有90万至180万人患有1型糖尿病。” [有线]

飞机类比 (The Airplane Analogy )

You are flying from L.A. to New York. You have to maintain a consistent altitude the whole way.

您是从洛杉矶飞往纽约。 您必须在整个过程中保持高度一致。

Note: For this analogy we will focus on a good cruising altitude and pretend that taking off and landings aren’t important.

注意：在此类推中，我们将重点放在良好的巡航高度上，并假装起降并不重要。

Food raises blood sugar (altitude.)  Insulin lowers it.  Non-diabetics don’t have to think about altitude, as you all have a working pancreas (autopilot) and don’t sweat altitude.  Diabetics, on the other hand, have to constantly wonder if they are at a safe altitude.  Staying at a consistently high altitude (high blood sugar) will eventually make you sick; while a low altitude (low blood sugar) will kill you quickly.

食物会增加血糖(海拔)。胰岛素会降低血糖。 非糖尿病患者不必考虑海拔高度，因为大家都有正常工作的胰腺(自动驾驶仪)并且不会出汗海拔高度。 另一方面，糖尿病患者必须不断地怀疑自己是否处于安全高度。 持续保持高海拔(高血糖)最终会使您生病； 而低海拔(低血糖)会很快杀死您。

When I prick my finger to check my blood sugar with a glucose test strip, that’s an altitude check.  I want to know how I’m doing.  Each time I do it, it costs about 70 US cents.  So, I can only afford about 200 test strips a month, which is about 7 finger pricks a day.

当我刺手指用葡萄糖试纸检查血糖时，这就是海拔检查。 我想知道我的状况。 每次我这样做，大约要花费70美分。 因此，我每个月只能负担大约200条试纸，每天大约需要7根针刺。

Each time I feel I need to lower my blood sugar, I take insulin.  In the old days I took a manual shot by measuring the insulin and filling the syringe by hand.  I would typically take about 5 or 6 shots a day.  Now I have an insulin pump that’s attached to me 24 hours a day.  I attach it with a needle to a new place every 4 days or so.  I have a remote control that tells it what to do. I keep the whole thing in my pocket with a tube leading under my clothes.

每次我需要降低血糖时，我都会服用胰岛素。 在过去，我通过测量胰岛素并用手填充注射器来进行手动拍摄。 我通常每天要拍摄5到6张照片。 现在，我每天24小时都连接有一个胰岛素泵。 我每隔4天左右用针将其连接到新地方。 我有一个遥控器，告诉它该怎么做。 我把整个东西都放在衣袋里，管子穿在衣服下面。

Note: I’m always asked if an insulin pump does things automatically.  Answer: I wish.  It is delivery only.  I have to “close the loop.”  There are currently no publicly available closed-loop systems that automatically test blood sugar AND deliver insulin.  Not yet.

注意：我总是被问到胰岛素泵是否可以自动完成任务。 答：我希望。 它只是交货。 我必须“闭环”。 当前没有公开可用的自动测试血糖并输送胰岛素的闭环系统。 还没。

Here’s where the analogy gets interesting.  Remember in the analogy we are flying from L.A. to New York, except we only get to check our altitude seven times.  And, we only get to change altitude (take insulin) less than ten times.  But, when I check my blood sugar, I’m actually seeing the past.  I’m seeing a reading of what my blood sugar was 15 minutes ago.  And, when I take insulin, it doesn’t start lowering my blood sugar for at least 30 minutes.

这就是类比有趣的地方。 记住，以此类推，我们是从洛杉矶飞往纽约，只是我们只能检查七次高度。 而且，我们只能将海拔高度变化(服用胰岛素)少于十次。 但是，当我检查血糖时，我实际上正在看到过去。 我正在看15分钟前的血糖读数。 而且，当我服用胰岛素时，至少有30分钟没有开始降低血糖。

Now, imagine yourself in that plane with an altimeter that shows you the altitude 15 minutes in the past, and a yoke that changes the altitude – but when you press on the yoke, your altitude won’t change for a half-hour.  It would be a challenging trip.

现在，想象一下自己在那架飞机上的高度表，该高度表向您显示了过去15分钟的高度，以及一个可以改变高度的轭架-但是当您按下轭架时，您的高度不会在半小时内改变。 这将是一次充满挑战的旅程。

Kind of reminds one of the delays in controlling the Mars Rover by remote, eh?  This is what Type I diabetes is like.  It’s a daily “chasing of one’s tail.”  This is why I prefer to eat at Subway when I’m in NYC or SFO.  It’s consistent.  I can count on it.  I know how much insulin to take for a Steak & Cheese.  Believe me, I’d love to eat new kinds of food every time I visit a new city, but I’d have to discover how much insulin to take and that’s and exhausting series of calculations and trial & error.

有点让人想起远程控制火星探测器的延迟之一，是吗？ 这就是I型糖尿病。 这是每天的“追尾巴”。 这就是为什么我在纽约或SFO时更喜欢在Subway吃东西的原因。 这是一致的。 我可以指望它。 我知道牛排和奶酪要服用多少胰岛素。 相信我，每次去新城市时，我都想吃新的食物，但是我必须发现要摄取多少胰岛素，而且这是一系列计算和反复试验的结果。