Question: What Is the diabetes game .?

Heather Eyre answered on 20 Jun 2013:

Hi,

The diabetes game, or Sugar Rush, is an interactive game for groups of 6-20 (or more depending on the size of the table/parachute used.

Most pupil would be cells – liver or muscle – and a few would be the pancreatic b-cells. Together, you are the body.

Someone would also get to feed the body with a big bucket of ball pool balls (sugar).

The first round would be a normal person – The pancreas would give the cells insulin (that’s the signal – I’ve not decided whether it’s be a tap lag tag rugby or a flashing light or something !) and they’d all quickly collect up the sugar (leaving a few so that the blood sugar wasn’t too low! But you’d better be quick so all the sugar doesn’t escape in the urine.

In the second round would be a type one diabetic – The pancreas would try and make insulin – but it can’t – so all the sugar would be left in the blood – hyperglycemia. Lot’s of sugar would fall off the table/parachute (that’s sugar that has ended up in the urine. Wasted. The cells would be restless and waiting for the signal – we might even give some cells an injection of insulin like type-1 diabetics take so they can collect some sugar.

Finally we have Type-2, the pancreas will make the insulin – but the cells are rude and don’t listen. The result is the same – only this time the blood is full of sugar AND insulin. This is hyperglycemia with high inulin levels too.

I think I’d use ping pong balls as insulin molecule, and a cell needs to collect an inulin molecule before collecting sugar ones. For type 1 I’d release only a tiny number of inulin ping pong balls. For type 2 there would be loads of insulin ping pong balls but a cell would need to collect 4 before starting to collect sugar.

I think I’d need to think of some cool prizes for the best cells!