August 11, 2006
Gestational Diabetes, Insulin
Question from Sunnyvale, California, USA:
My wife was diagnosed with gestational diabetes in her 30th week of pregnancy. She is taking insulin shots every day now. Is it possible for my wife to have a slightly different insulin effect than others due to her profession as a flight attendant? She often needs to work over 14 hours non-stop on certain routes. Plus, she is Chinese and usually eats a lot of rice. I want to know if her body will release insulin slower than others so that she can work over 14 hours on the flight non-stop. If I am correct, the reading of her blood sugar will drop gradually over the next few hours following a meal. As a result, the readings of her blood sugar one hour after her meal will give the wrong message since her body might be able to release insulin gradually and will decompose the sugar over the course of a couple hours.
Answer:
Everyone’s metabolism is different. Therefore, it is necessary to individualize an insulin regimen, even if a patient may start out at a basic unit of insulin/kg body weight dosing schedule. Once activity and diet are taken into account, adjustments are made. There is nothing medical that prevents your wife from working a 14 hour shift other than that can be tough on a pregnant woman. As long as she is appropriately timing her food intake with insulin injections, there should not be a problem. There are several types of insulin from short acting (one to two hours) up to long acting (16 to 18 hours) that can be combined. The insulin mix plus an appropriate diet plan should get your wife through a long flight.
OWJ
