Diabetes and Diving???

[stevewirl]

I work with a pro diver that is a diabetic . im a paramedic . aslong as a doc clears him it ok . but if he starts techie diving he will have to be cleared by a dive doc .

 

[geoff127]

I fail to see what the big problem is, as long as you wear the pump while diving. I'm not super familiar with the pump, but as long as it is on and functioning and you plan your food intake pre-dive than I can't see why having diabetes would be a concern. There are even bladders than you can attach to your tank to hold liquids like Kool-Aid in the event he feels his sugar start to fall while diving, especially helpful if for some reason (deco, overhead, etc.) he couldn't surface right away.

I'm not sure if they make a water resistant pump, but there is always the option of getting a cheap, lightweight drysuit to keep it dry and at 1 ATM.

-Geoff

 

[dlscozz]

The pumps are designed as water resistant at best and not designed to withstand the pressure so I think that would not work. He can have his pump off for an hour or so without any problems.

 

[geoff127]

The pumps are designed as water resistant at best and not designed to withstand the pressure so I think that would not work. He can have his pump off for an hour or so without any problems.

I figured they weren't made for high pressure, but if he is getting into longer dives or to help alleviate any concerns/fear over not having the pump he could start diving in a drysuit. That way the pump stays dry and under far less pressure. I know it's an expensive and possibly complicated addition, but it would be a solution to a possible problem.

-Geoff

 

[JKSteger]

Do not dive with the pump, even in a drysuit. It will be about a $5,000.00 mistake!!! Because you will have to buy another pump because it will break!.

Also you don't dive with the pump on at all. The pump sends insulin into the body which reduces your blood sugar. A drop in blood sugar means hypoglycemic issues. It is FAR safer to be "hyper" glycemic (high blood sugar) when diving. Your brain and body will still function with a high blood sugar but when your sugar drops, and it usually hits fast and hard, you can not think correctly, you get fast heartbeats, hyperventalation, sweats, shakey feeling (sometime uncontrollably) and underwater you can DIE when this happens. I Never dive unless my blood sugar is in the 180 - 200 BGL range. I know DAN (divers alert network) has a guideline to not dive if sugar is below 150 or 180 BGL.

Also as a side note, usually insulin dependant diabeties is far safer, when diving, than diabetics that rely on a pill. As a pill's half life fluctuates in its effectiveness where injected insulin's half life is extremely predictable. What this means is better control. Lets say I check my blood sugar and it's 210 bgl (high) and I take a pill, I really don't know exactly how much the pill is going to help drop my sugar. I might go ahead and dive but the pill drops it too much and I start to have a hypoglycemic conditon, I just don't know. However, if I take an insulin injection, using a sliding scale for 210bgl I know that it take exactly X units of insulin to bring my sugar down to say 100bgl. This is what I mean by better control.

Jeremy

 

[427Dave]

Go to DAN as a few have already mentioned. Dan also has a manual, that I have, that is Diabetes and Recreational Diving Guidelines. Order that manual also as it has alot of answers in it.