Student life with diabetes can be challenging but organizations and services on campus help make this campus a diabetes friendly environment
The scent of baked pastries and espresso usually bring about a sense of comfort, but for diabetics passing Front Room, it can present an unwelcome temptation.
“It’s frustrating and also tempting for (us),” said Yerith Dagostino, a sophomore living with Type 1 Diabetes and studying applied nutrition.
Over 29 million people in the United States have diabetes, according to 2012 statistics for the Center for Disease Control. Last January, Dagostino, found out she’s one of them after being diagnosed on campus last January. Since her diagnosis, some aspects of college life she took for granted became challenges.
Diabetes is a metabolic disease which causes high blood sugar because the body cannot produce enough insulin. In the U.S., 208,000 people younger than 20 years old have been diagnosed with Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes, according to the CDC.
Type 1 diabetes is often diagnosed in childhood and is not associated with excess body weight. Type 2 diabetes is usually associated with excess body weight and diagnosed in individuals over 30.
Dagostino, with her family more than 3,000 miles away in Peru, turned to campus resources for guidance and support.
After diagnosis
Many students on campus do have diabetes, but Campus Care officials do not know the exact number that they’ve seen. Sometimes, the facility diagnoses students with the disease, but students who come to Campus Care with symptoms of Type 1 diabetes (No energy, losing a lot of weight and terrible abdominal pain) don’t have the disease, said Jane Balbo, a doctor of Family Medicine at Campus Care.
“I was very sad and almost depressed,” Dagostino said. “ … but now I think this happened to me for a reason and maybe God wants me in a place where I can learn and also teach other people.”
Diabetes at Ohio University
Ohio University is no stranger to diabetes in an academic sense. Its Diabetes Institute, which developed a new drug for the treatment of Type 2 diabetes, received the Excellence in Diabetes Care award from the American Osteopathic Foundation in December.
OU also offers a Diabetes Certificate program.
“Many diabetes certificate graduates have said that the certificate helped them get a job or get into graduate school because it showed that they were committed to their education,” said Jennifer Yoder, coordinator of the certificate, in an email.
The diabetes certificate can also help future business owners or entrepreneurs to understand diabetes is expensive. Total costs of diagnosed diabetes in the U.S. amounted to $245 billion in 2012, according to the American Diabetes Association.
“I have insurance that is covering some parts, but I cannot see myself without the insurance because the medicine is very expensive,” Dagostino said. “The insulin is, like $300, and the test strips are $100 and with my insurance I still have to pay $60. It’s a lot.”
Living with diabetes
Diabetics have to modify their diets to keep blood sugar levels stable, which Dagostino said was the most difficult change to her lifestyle.
“I love sugar, so that was my weakness, because I am a big fan of sugar,” she said. “I was very sad because my family baked me a cake on my birthday and I couldn’t eat it.”
But the disease changed her life in other ways too; it convinced Dagostino to study nutrition. A diabetes diagnosis can be challenging at times for college students.
“Finals week is usually particularly difficult because stress affects blood sugar and blood sugar affects how you operate,” said Charles Riley, a junior living with Type 1 diabetes and studying nutrition. “The all-night cram sessions get even harder than they normally would; you have to be more aware of what you’re eating and, when you’re eating, you can’t just study all night and not eat.”
Hannah Ireland, a freshman studying sociology, got a tattoo in case something goes wrong.
“I got my tattoo for diabetes in case of an emergency and there was a medical team that way they they will know I was diabetic and know that if something were to happen my blood sugar could be low or high and that could be why whatever happened happened,” she said.
OU doesn’t currently have clear nutritional guides available in its dining halls for its food, which makes it near impossible for diabetics to properly administer enough insulin to cover the carbohydrates in the food they eat.
Nicholas Mezitis, associate professor of endocrinology, said he thinks being away from home makes living with the disease difficult.
“They’re in a dorm and (they’re) influenced by schedule and things that don’t necessarily have to do with what they should be doing,” he said. “They might be working late and/or have erratic meal times.”
But, Dagostino lives off-campus, which helps because she has access to the kitchen and isn’t required to eat dining hall food. Dagostino’s boss at Alden Library is also aware of her diagnosis and periodically checks in to make sure she’s doing OK.
“I’m allowed to check my blood sugar; I don’t do it very often because I don’t want to interrupt my job hours,” Dagostino said.
Resources on campus
Nutritional information will soon be available in the dining halls, starting with Shively, said Angie Bohyer, a part-time registered dietitian for Culinary Services.
Culinary Services offers help for students with special diets. Culinary often assists students who eat gluten-free diets, but has had only one request for a diabetic diet in the last five years, said Rosanna Nelson, the quality assurance and HACCP manager for Culinary Services.
“Right now (students are) living here and this is their home and we want to do everything that we can do to make them feel at home,” Nelson said.
Students can call a dining hall an hour before and officials will prepare a special meal.
“It is a common myth that people with diabetes are limited to eating only ‘diabetic friendly’ foods, that they can’t have sugar, that carbs are ‘bad’, etc,” Yoder said in an email. “ … The only difference is they need a little help in the way of insulin or oral medications when it comes to controlling how their blood glucose is controlled in response to certain foods, particularly carbohydrates.”
Diabetes Outreach, Support and Education for Students, a student organization created in April, works to dispel some of these myths with a poster campaign.
“We just wanted to get together and generate a welcoming environment for diabetics because we didn’t really know anybody (else with diabetes on campus)” said Riley, president of the group and a diabetic of seven years. “As it evolved, we decided we wanted to take it further and try to become the most diabetes-friendly school in the nation.”
The organization serves as both a support group for those who have diabetes on campus and a resource for those who want to learn more about the disease.
OU’s Diabetes Institute offers a free clinic, which caters to Athens residents who do not have health insurance or who have a high deductible, once a month, said Kathleen Trace, outreach director for the institute.
“We see people that really just need some extra help either going through a bad time in their life like being recently unemployed or they’re going through a family or life crisis … They need some extra help. Those are the folks that we try to reach out to,” Trace said. “(It’s) so rewarding to know that what you’re doing is making a difference in peoples lives.”
@annachristine38
ag836912@ohio.edu
