Hello MnLakeDiver:
Answers to questions are for information only, do not imply diagnosis or treatment and should always be used in conjunction with the advice of your physician.
There are no standardized rules governing who may dive with various conditions or not around the world. Add to this the liability incurred by training organizations and their agents (dive instructors and scuba shops), and it is not hard to see why each individual instructor pretty much makes his own rules and regulations when it comes to certifying diving with conditions
that would possibly be dangerous to a diver. The big problem with diabetes is the possibility of a low blood sugar while underwater, possibly brought on by the effects of immersion, cold, anxiety, exercise and a myriad of other things. I am not aware that a decompression accident (bubbles) would worsen diabetes or vice versa.
Non-insulin dependent diabetics (Type II) may dive. However, most certification agencies, as well as virtually all textbooks and agencies concerned with diving (such as NOAA and the American Academy of Underwater Sciences) list diabetes (with either oral hypoglycemic agents or insulin therapy) as absolutely disqualifying from scuba diving. An instructor with an agency that excludes diabetics from acceptance for training, risks losing his/her liability insurance coverage if he/she accepts a diabetic as a student as he/she would be in violation of agency standards.
However, over the last several years, data collected by the Divers Alert Network and others have demonstrated that diabetics can scuba dive safely under carefully controlled conditions. In addition, the Diabetes and Diving Committee of the Council on Exercise of the American Diabetes Association notes that there are currently a substantial number of diabetics, in the United States and elsewhere, who dive but it offers no guidelines.
Here are some criteria for diving with the condition:
--good control of blood glucose levels
--freedom from severe secondary complications of diabetes (eyes, kidneys, blood vessels)
--an understanding of the relationship between the disease and exercise
Diabetics who shouldn't dive are those who:
--have had a serious hypoglycemic episode within the past 12 months
--have advanced secondary complications of the disease
--have poor control of their blood sugar
--are unaware of the early warning signs of hypoglycemia
--lack insight into the relationship between diabetes and exercise
--glycosuria causing dehydration, a known risk for decompression sickness
BSAC recommendations for the UK are similar, though more rigorous. A questionnaire must be filled out by the prospective diver, and a separate one completed by the diver's physician. In addition, BSAC has developed guidelines concerning what additional gear and supplies diabetic divers
should carry, and proposes a pre- and post-dive plan in order to minimize risks.
The YMCA has an extensive diving protocol for diabetic scuba divers. It carefully differentiates the divers with mild diabetes and those with frequent changes in blood sugar levels and hypoglycemia. It might be wisest to have your husband contact the nearest YMCA program and enroll. This way he would be diving with professionals who have a definite diabetic program,
with instructors who understand the illness and probably can go on trips that are arranged for his peers. The YMCA Scuba program has developed a particularly comprehensive protocol for the management of diabetics who dive (
http://www.traders.co.uk/insulintrust/database/id75.htm).
Here is information for contact sources for the YMCA:
YMCA of the USA
SCUBA Program
101 N. Wacker Drive
Chicago, IL 60606
(800) 872-9622
(312) 977-0894 fax
E-Mail:
scuba@ymca.net
Here are a couple of web sites that might be helpful:
http://www.scubadiving.com/training/medicine/diabetes2.shtml
http://scuba-doc.com/endmet.html#Diabetes_and_Diving
Best regards for safe diving!
Ern Campbell, MD
Diving Medicine Online
http://scuba-doc.com/
Medical Editor, Rodale's Scuba Diving
DAN Physician Consultant