| Driving Under the Influence of Diabetes: Diabetic Emergencies Can Cause a False-Positive For Alcohol Impairment |
| Today, 24 million people are living with diabetes. According to the National Diabetes Statistics website, of those living with diabetes, approximately 5.7 million have not been diagnoses and are living everyday unaware of the battle going on inside their bodies. So why does this statistic have any importance on the issue of driving under the influence? Well, if one were to look at the symptoms of the various diabetic emergencies they would start to see the surprising similarities between the two. However, you should first know a little about what diabetes basics and what causes most diabetic emergencies in the first place. At its most basic level, diabetics have the inability to produce insulin naturally. Insulin is important because it is necessary to allow blood cells to accept sugar (glucose); so think of insulin as a key that unlocks the car door to a blood cell allowing sugar cells to enter. Sugar can then be transported throughout the body through the blood and gives energy for our various activities, including brain function (most important). Without insulin the sugar cells will just float in the blood stream and have no mode of transportation to get anywhere. Insulin is also in charge of telling our bodies to store sugars and putting excess sugar in the muscle cells and in the liver to be used at a later time. In an effort to combat their lack of natural insulin, diabetics will give themselves insulin injections wither through a syringe or an insulin pump which will give the body a continuous supply of insulin without the user having to manually inject themselves. The benefit of these pumps is that the user can easily provide their bodies with more insulin when they know that they have eaten foods high in sugar, thus, requiring more insulin get the sugar transported throughout the body. Because a diabetic’s body is bad at regulating its own levels of sugar it is important for the person to keep on routine eating schedules. They must keep a close eye on what they eat and how much they eat. Typically the diet should consist of lower carb foods. The typical diabetic should be doing very routine blood checks everyday to make sure their sugar levels are in the normal range and they are not at risk of becoming hypoglycemic (too low blood sugar) or hyperglycemic (too high blood sugar). The bad thing about this is that a type one diabetic who goes into a hypoglycemic state will often not feel the early symptoms coming on; it is called hypoglycemic unawareness. This happens because most every diabetic goes into hypoglycemic states numerous times a month. The body becomes accustomed to it and the symptoms become harder to recognize until it’s too late. At that point they no longer have any control anyway. That is why type one diabetics wear medic alert jewelry or carry cards and also have with them glucogen tablets which will give a jolt of sugar and bring the sugar levels back into a level where the person can manage their own treatment. In relation to why this is important in a DUI context: if a diabetic fails to eat for significant periods of time then the blood sugar levels get low. In a normal person if the blood sugar gets low the body stops producing insulin and therefore the levels will not drop to dangerous levels. But in a diabetic's case, the insulin pump keeps insulin going into the blood and, thus, any sugars in that blood are going to get transported and/or stored when they really should not be. This unneeded distribution lowers the blood sugar levels to dangerous levels and the person becomes hypoglycemic. The body starts to starve, the person gets the shakes, gets dizzy, weak, sweats, acts nervous, gets irritable and upset, the heart starts to beat faster, they have difficulty paying attention, headaches can occur, they have extreme mood swings, and numbness can occur around the mouth (a possible cause of slurred speech). And most importantly, because the body starts burning fat cells for energy, the breath will smell of alcohol as a result. If left untreated a coma is possible and even death. Now imagine this scenario; Bob is a person living with diabetes and uses an insulin pump. Bob meets up with some friends for a poker game at 7 pm. He eats and plays poker while they watch the game. For over four hours Bob doesn't have anything else substantial to eat, however, his insulin pump keeps injecting insulin into his body and depleting it of necessary sugar. Bob's body starts to starve for energy and begins to go into the first stages of hypoglycemia. Bob's body rushes to use his stored fat cells and muscle cells to keep going. On the outside Bob starts to get a little irritable and starts to feel tired and weak. He says good bye and leaves to go home. While driving, Bob's body starts to shut down to conserve energy. As he drives he cannot concentrate and he begins to weave. A policeman sees this driving pattern and suspects Bob is a drunk driver. Bob is pulled over and when he speaks to the officer his breath smells like alcohol and he is asked to step put of the car to perform some roadside tests. Now Bob suffering a full-fledged hypoglycemic episode and his coordination and ability to speak is extremely limited. He cannot say a complete sentence let alone walk a straight line or stand on one leg. Bob is arrested for driving under influence of alcohol and now is facing jail time, high fines, community service hours, the loss of his license, and DUI school. As you can see, the issue of diabetes is not a well known one, regardless of the number of people living with it today. Police should be instructed on this illness and its effects, however, such training is not necessary in the DUI protocol and is often overlooked by most police agencies. It is a sad fact, but many people living with diabetes have faced similar situations just like Bob above and it is up to trained attorneys to bring these issues before a jury and have them decide the truth. |
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Best & Associates
Miami DUI Lawyers
Miami DUI Lawyers
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