Unit: Bittersweet: Diabetes Topic: Diabetes

Rationale: Students will recognize that diabetes is a disease that can affect the elderly. Students will learn about the symptoms, signs, and complications of diabetes. Importantly, students will understand that diabetes is used as a model to study mechanisms of accelerated aging.

Keywords: diabetes, type 1, type 2, risk factor, glucose, sugar, insulin, pancreas, Hypoglycemia, glucose tolerance test, atherosclerosis, vascular system, cholesterol, obesity, culture, thrify gene, overweight

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Lessons & Activities | Overview | Objectives | Evaluation | Subjects | Funding

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Overview and Background Information

The teacher should refer to "The Premature Aging of People with Diabetes Mellitus" prior to instructing these lessons. This will provide the teacher with additional understanding of diabetes.

Unit Overview and Background Information for Teachers

References:
American Diabetes Association, Basic Information Series , Alexandria, VA, 1988.

American Diabetes Association, Day-by-Day , Alexandria, VA.

American Diabetes Association, Diabetes in the Family: Your Guide to a Healthy Lifestyle , Prentice Hall Press, New York, NY, 1987.

Guyton, Arthur C., M.D., Textbook of Medical Physiology , W.B. Saunders Company, Philadelphia, PA, 1991.

Kahn, C. Ronald and Gordon C. Weir, Joslin's Diabetes Mellitus 13 ed ., Lea & Febiger, Malvern, PA, 1994.

The Merck Manual of Geriatrics , Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, 1990.

Upjohn Company, Diagnosis Diabetes: Facts and Fictions , 1990.

U.S. Department of Agriculture, “The Food Pyramid,” August, 1992.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Non Insulin-Dependent Diabetes , National Institutes of Health, March, 1987.

Young, Eleanor, Nutrition, Aging, and Health , Alan R. Liss, Inc., New York, 1986.

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Unit Objectives

Students will be able to:

• understand how the body utilizes sugar, and what happens to sugar with the onset of diabetes
• compare and contrast Type 1 (Insulin Dependent Diabetes Mellitus, or IDDM) and Type 2 diabetes (Non-Insulin Dependent Diabetes Mellitus, or NIDDM)
• recognize warning signs that help with the diagnosis of diabetes
• realize the complications of untreated diabetes such as: blindness, kidney disease, amputations, heart disease, and stroke
• implement aspects of self-care such as diet, exercise, and foot care for managing diabetes
• recognize the need for an increasing awareness with family history, age, and ethnicity

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Subject Areas Covered

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Unit/Lesson Evaluation

Diabetes Pre Test

Diabetes Post Test

Diabetes Pre/Post Tests Answer Key

Diabetes Reading Test

Diabetes Reading Test Answer Key

Sedentary Stan: Vascular Complications of Type 2 Diabetes Pre/Post Test

Sedentary Stan: Vascular Complications of Type 2 Diabetes Pre/Post Test Answer Sheet & Key

Clean Up Crew: Diabetic Kidney Disease by the Numbers Pre/Post Knowledge Test

Clean Up Crew: Diabetic Kidney Disease by the Numbers Pre/Post Knowledge Test Answer Sheets & Key

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Funding

Positively Aging® Curriculum Program Funding 1997-2008:
National Institutes of Health
National Center for Research Resources
National Institute on Aging
Science Education Partnership Award
Grant # R25 RR 18549

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