Numbers play a part in our everyday lives and diabetics are no exception. With diabetes people are need to count carbohydrates and calories, adjust insulin doses, and track blood glucose readings. An example of math and diabetes is a person may need 20 grams of carbohydrate and that person has crackers which contain 2 grams of carbohydrate how many do they need to get the necessary carbohydrates. Without the skills of math, the task of managing diabetes becomes a dangerous chore.
Diabetes is classed as a metabolism disorder. Metabolism refers to the way our bodies use digested food for energy and growth. The most of what we eat is broken down into glucose. Glucose is a form of sugar in the blood. …show more content…
Having diabetes involves a lot of complex arithmetic. The task requires understanding of measurement, estimation, time, logic, and multi-step operation. The task is called numeracy, which is the ability to understand and work with numbers. Numeracy is defined as the ability to reason and to apply simple numerical concepts. Basic numeracy skills consist of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. A numerically literate person can manage and respond to the mathematical demands of life dealing with their diabetes.
There are challenges when it comes to understanding the math of diabetes in daily life. A person needs to be able to know ranges of numbers, know glucose level, count carbohydrates, calculate portion sizes, and read food labels. For example calculating the number of meal-time insulin units to inject. To do this blood sugar level must be calculated. The grams of carbohydrates consumed, from which derives the number of insulin units needed to cover that intake. The formula look something like this (blood sugar) 195 – 100= 95/55 = 1.7 + (unit of insulin 10:1 ratio of carbs) 6 =7.7 – 2 (light exercise) =5.7 …show more content…
The patients with lower diabetes related numeracy were more likely to be older and non-white, lower annual income, and have fewer years of education. Patients with higher diabetes related numeracy were also more likely to have a greater perceived self-efficacy of diabetes self- self-management skills. Another measurement that arrived is that African Americans with diabetes and to have poorer blood sugar control as well as higher rates of diabetes complications, like heart disease and kidney failure. Percentage of glycated hemoglobin, or HbA1c, in the blood. These results gives a good idea of how well the diabetes treatment plan is working. All this seems partly why African American patients generaly had poorer A1C scores than white patients