Maintaining glucose and grades

A sphere of blood spurts from the needle prick on freshman Jonas Shaffer's finger tip as he squeezes the skin between his fingers in the health room before 5A lunch. The glassy pool of red oozes from his finger onto a plastic slip, filling a rectangular indentation. Sliding the slip into his glucose meter, Shaffer focuses his attention on the small screen. The numbers rise rapidly from 50 to 100 to 150 and then slowly creep up to 190, blinking at his final blood sugar count: 197. Shaffer's normal blood sugar count ranges from 90 to 150 - today, it is too high.

Shaffer must monitor the glucose content of his blood routinely because he has Type 1 diabetes, a disease that affects his body's ability to produce insulin, which is a chemical that regulates the conversion of food and nutrients into energy.

Shaffer's health condition is not uncommon. The rate of diabetes in America has increased each year over the past 50 years, according to the American Diabetes Association's web site. About one out of every 450 adolescents struggles with Type 1 diabetes. Among them are a handful of Blazers whose conditions consign them to daily blood sugar counts and insulin shots in order to stay healthy.

The diagnosis

Freshman Lisa Whittington has been taking insulin injections since she was nine, when she first began experiencing symptoms of the disease. On top of an intense, continuous thirst, Whittington started feeling hunger pangs even after she ate. She began to lose weight rapidly, dropping about 30 pounds in the first three or four months after her symptoms started.

In addition, Whittington's mood worsened. "I am usually pretty cheery and optimistic, but when I had these symptoms, I felt depressed," she says. She constantly felt physically and mentally drained, and even everyday tasks became a struggle. "Even walking up a hill would take a lot out of me," she says.

Whittington's mother became concerned that her daughter might have diabetes, so she pulled her from school for a doctor's appointment. At age nine, Whittington wasn't entirely aware of the severity of the situation. "My mom freaked out a lot more than I did. I was so young, I didn't understand," she says.

Doctors used a urine sample to identify a high glucose content in her blood, an indicator of diabetes. The results of the test also revealed that Whittington was dangerously dehydrated, and she was rushed to the emergency room immediately. At that point, fear set in. "My mom started to cry and she hugged me real tight," she says.

Too high, too low

For Shaffer, living with diabetes means pricking his finger and reading his blood sugar count before breakfast, lunch, dinner and bed, as well as taking daily injections of insulin.

Shaffer's routine is typical; before diabetics even consume a snack, they must check their blood sugar level, according to Dr. Fran Cogen, an endocrinologist at Children's Hospital. Generally, a healthy blood sugar count hovers somewhere between 90 and 150. Because Type 1 diabetics do not produce insulin properly, injections of insulin are necessary to compensate, according to the American Diabetes Association. In addition, diabetics must adjust their diets to accommodate an inconsistent blood sugar level by eating products high or low in sugar.

Shaffer has learned to detect a climbing blood sugar level: His warning most often comes in the form of a minor headache. According to Cogen, low sugar levels are much easier to detect. But the risks that they bring are no less severe than those of a high blood count, a fact that Wittington is no stranger to.

She recalls one morning soon after her diagnosis, when she took her blood sugar before breakfast and watched the glucose meter blink "16." At that point, Whittington was feeling so faint and groggy that she collapsed on the couch. Minutes later, Whittington's father attempted to wake her, but when he finally did, she was too weak to string together coherent sentences. It is experiences like this that keep diabetics like Whittington constantly alert to the warning signs of dangerous blood sugar levels.

To prepare for such a situation, Shaffer carries in his backpack not only No. 2 pencils and textbooks, but also a container of cake icing - a reserve so that he can indulge in a quick sugar intake to stave off low sugar levels. On top of the daily worries of a high-school student, Shaffer must always remain conscious of his blood sugar level and physical condition. Unstable sugar levels may result in irritability, difficulty concentrating and shakiness, says Cogen.

Outside of the classroom, Shaffer approaches physical activities with caution. "I am going to have to eat something before exercise so I don't faint on the field," he says.

Looking to the future

While Shaffer and Whittington believe that diabetics can have a normal lifestyle, the disease remains a debilitating and permanent condition. Shaffer is comforted by the thought that, with regular insulin shots, his future will be more or less normal. Still, he adds, "it would be nice to eat whatever I want whenever I want."

Whittington agrees that life would be easier without diabetes and hopes that one day, she won't need her daily dose of insulin. "My mom says that diabetes could be cured in my lifetime," Whittington says. "That's exciting."