Hocus Poke Us - I Need Insulin to Focus!

Halloween Diabetes

Approximately 1.8 million Americans are diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes this Halloween.

Carbohydrates, or carbs, are the main nutrient that raises blood sugar. When someone eats crabs, their blood sugar rises. People with Type 1 diabetes - and sometimes Type 2 - need insulin to help control that sugar.

Carb Coverage using the 1:15 ratio.

1 unit insulin = 15 grams crabs (generally, but everyone's different). This is called a carb to insulin ratio. It tells us how much insulin a person needs for what they eat.

Think of it like shopping: If 1 ticket buys 15g of carbs, then we have to "buy tickets" (insulin units) to match the carbs we eat.

Rounding

When we calculate insulin, sometimes we get decimals. Insulin is usually given in whole or half units. If your answer is close to half, you round to that. If it's very close to the next whole, round up. If it's close to whole number already, keep it there. The goal is to give just enough insulin - not too much, not too little.

Why don't we always round up?

Too much insulin can make blood sugar drop too low (hypoglycemia). Too little insulin may leave blood sugar too high, but it's usually safer to adjust later. In real life, doctors give patients individualized rounding rules - but for class practice, using whole or half units keeps the math safe and realistic.

Example

A fun size Snickers has 17g of carbs, so 17/15 = 1 unit of insulin.

That means if a person eats that Snickers, they need about 1 unit to cover it.

Blood Sugar Correction

Blood sugar is measured in mg/dL. A healthy target for this lesson is 120 mg/dL. Sometimes people with diabetes have a blood sugar that is too high. To bring it back down, they take a correction dose of insulin. Each unit of insulin lowers blood sugar by a certain amount.

1 unit insulin lowers blood sugar by 20 mg/dL

This is called the correction factor or insulin sensitivity factor. It tells us how much one unit of insulin will lower blood sugar.

Formula

Insulin Needed = (Current BG - Target BG)/20
Always subtract the target blood sugar before dividing.

Example

Frankenstein's blood sugar is 200 mg/dL. Target is 120.
200 - 120 = 80. 80 / 20 = 4.
Frankenstein needs 4 units of insulin to bring his blood sugar to target level.