I was watching Panic Room with Jodie Foster and Kristen Stewart last night and Kristen Stewart played a young Type 1 Diabetic. At the beginning of the movie, they were having pizza and “Sarah” played by Kristen was having a regular coke not diet. Coupled with the pizza, there is no way she would have gone low later in the movie. Also, any reasonable Type 1 Diabetic would not have a regular coke.
Have you picked up on any movie goofs regarding Type 1 Diabetics?
Con Air has a goof. Nick Cage’s friend in the movie starts to go into a seizure kind of thing, but you never see him eat, and it’s never assumable throughout the movie that he had some kind of giant meal before the flight (meaning a high bg sugar seizure). Anyway, he acts all weak and shaky throughout the movie so he’s probably having some kind of low, but still begging for insulin. At the end of the movie, he gets the insulin and then is ok (and still has no food), but i’m sure in reality, he would have crashed harder and gone into a coma at that point.
medical conditions in movies are always wrong, but i’d think they’d at least throw some effort into diabetes on screen since it’s more well known than others in our culture and wouldn’t really require tons of research.
hah… I haven’t seen any of these two movies, but I’ll try to pay more attention. 
It’s not as though the information isn’t readily available. Just some dumb screenwriter doesn’t want to to his/her homework.
It’s been a while sense I saw the movie but wasn’t she going to die when her BG like hit 65 and I don’t even get the shakes at that.
Not a movie, but my girlfriend’s father was watching some version of CSI the other night and they said something about the lab tests showing that somebody was diabetic because his A1c test showed an abnormal amount of hemoglobin.
I was , like, “Ooo, doh!”.
The new TV show "Do No Harm" has the lead man being type 1 diabetic (not his alter ego, though). He is a highly regarded surgeon (brain surgeon?) and tells his boss that he cannot work nights because of his diabetes. (this is his cover to keep his alter ego from the hospital that he works because he switches to the alter at 8:25pm every night)
In addition, one episode the alter DOES get to the hospital and attempts to perform surgery on a patient, planning malicious activity. They have to test his glucose before he does the surgery as routine check points. He registers at 315 and the nurses and doctors in the room have to hold him down because he's going into a diabetic seizure. I don't know about you, but I've been over 500 several times without going into ketoacidosis, let alone into a full blown seizure.
Maybe I'M the strange one.
Yep, I saw that too. I don't know which was worse, the portrayal of Diabetes or of DID (Dissasociative Identity Disorder). But hey, at least they gave him insulin not juice!
Marps your not the only one! At diagnosis I was nearing 800 and not in full blown DKA yet. Crazy huh, lol.
i love the question mark after "hypo"! excellent.
What IS full-blown DKA? Maybe I have never had it? at diagnosis 45 years ago I was dehydrated and used the bathroom a lot, but those were the only symptoms I had. I think I may have had DKA when I was hospitalized for pnuemonia,in 1981. I heard it mentioned; and I did have a slow insulin drip in the ER, but I was so sick from the pneumonia it was hard to separate the illnesses. Is "full-blown DKA" when you get nauseous with stomach pains?: Yeah I have had that once when I missed a bolus ( kinked cannula) for a high carb meal and was not able to change out the set, and had no syringes with me. Yeah that was pretty Yuck...
I do not know about ther character on "Do no Harm", but I generally have so little energy at 315 that I could not attempt to do any good nor harm. And unless that 315 is a brief unfortunate spike, all I want to do when that high is sleep and urinate!! Diabetes affects us all differently; and neither it nor other numerous medical conditions receive an accurate portrayal, on a routine basis, in movies/TV.
Just enough info to "keep the story going."
God bless,
Brunetta
We have a very good friend who consults with the TV and Movie industry on military stuff--like correct uniforms, insignia, hats, etc. He finally quit because he was tired of being asked for the correct information, doing all the research, and then being totally ignored. So even though the correct information is readily available, it seems to be used rarely.
But when a movie does it correctly, such as Kevin Bacon's marine in "Taking Chance," all the militory historians spread the word, and most of them will go see it, as it is so unusual to get it right.
"Panic Room" additionally has the watch (if I remember correctly) that follows her blood glucose. That one made me laugh!
Movies regularly and habitually get technical information wrong. It happens so much that it should be expected; the exceptions are the times when they get it RIGHT.
Haven't looked for D-related goofs, but here are some (RANDOMLY chosen) examples in other areas:
Alien 2 -- the Marine sergeant is wearing Army stripes.
Star Wars (the first movie) -- Han Solo is asked how fast his ship is and replies, "it's the ship that made the Kessel run in less than twelve parsecs." Problem: a parsec is a measure of distance, not time. It would be like being asked how quickly you can get from home to work and saying "I can do it in twelve miles."
Every movie ever made that shows a large computer. The hardware is always years out of date, incorrectly used, behaves in nonsensical ways, and is shown doing things it CANNOT do.
etc. etc. etc.
I dont know lol maybe and shame on me its not an ACCURATE description, I just think DKA, and nearly comatose. Or maybe at the time of my diagnosis, it had been coming on for so long, I just didn't realize I felt as BAD as I did. But It just kinda and not that I'm doubting it, people who say they've been in DKA at 300 or so. I will freely admit in the past I've let all control go out the window, and while yes I might be peeing more, but for me, and of course we know everyone is different but for me I've never even considered myself being anywhere near DKA at 300. Guess its different for all for us.
David, that is FANTASTIC! I knew the parsec reference, but not the Marine wearing Army strips. Sure my significant other noticed it, but now I know. Thanks.
The way I think about... spilling some ketones is not full-blown DKA. Having to pee because bg is too high, is not in itself full-blown DKA either.
I remember in the weeks before I went into deep DKA peeing a lot, and being thirsty all the time, but for most of that time I don't think I was in full-blown DKA.
A couple tell-tale signs of "full-blown DKA" from my experience 31 years ago: "Ketotic breath" (may smell like alcohol). "Hypertachycardia" (fast pulse all the time). "Deep gasping breathing" aka "Kussmaul respiration" (which I actually remember not so much as deep breathing, but rapid gasping, feeling like I was never breathing deep enough.)
I remember, right after being diagnosed, walking around in the 500's and feeling perfectly "fine" (so I thought)...*shrug*
Thanks Tim, yes that's pretty much what I call full blown DKA too, there's no getting out of that one short of going to the hospital. I don't consider if Im spilling some Ketones or peeing a lot, or even being more thirst full blown DKA...maybe if not treated and you continue down that path then YES it would lead to it, but not yet at that point. By what I consider full blown DKA has only happened to me once, and I damn near thought I was going to have a heart attack, my heart was racing so fast, puking non-stop, gaspy breathing. I've been in for some highs before but not what I consider full blown DKA, that's only been once for me.