In memory of Stephen Hender
- From: "Pro-Humanist FREELOVER" <prohuman@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 1 Apr 2011 09:36:01 -0500
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April 1, 2011
http://www.patriotledger.com/features/x1053026846/DA-s-office-No-foul-play-in-Abington-man-s-death
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Excerpts [with inserts, not part of original
article, included in brackets]:
It's still unclear how a missing Abington man
died, but a medical examiner confirmed there
was no indication of foul play, the district
attorney's office said Thursday.
Police found the body of 60-year-old Stephen
Hender, a severe Type 1 diabetic [a person
with Insulinitis, characterized as severe, but
it's worth noting, *every* case of Insulinitis
is *severe*, with risky administrations of
insulin required, usually mulitiple times per ...
.... day, and usually injections are used, though
an insulin pump is used in a difficult to deter-
mine percentage of cases which varies from
country to country], on Wednesday in Abing-
ton's Island Grove Pond, about 2 miles from
his home and a week after he was reported
missing by his family.
The cause and manner of Hender's death is
pending test results ... Middleton said test
results aren't expected back for 12 weeks.
.... Abington Police Chief David Majenski said
Wednesday Hender's death appeared to be
a "medical tragedy."
Described as a brittle [a term used to empha-
size when a person has a high degree of unpre-
dictability in glucose levels, oft-times regardless
of how much effort is put into trying to come
close to the glucose levels present in persons
who have no glucose anomaly] by his wife,
Hender wore an insulin pump on his hip to ...
.... regulate [deal with, the term regulation
incorrectly implying that insulin contributes
to glucose stability -- it does *NOT* do this,
it specifically has a glucose-lowering impact,
and that's the totality of it, with the unpre-
dictability factor present in varying degrees
with every single indivdual who has this
____ (insert deprecatory word here) condi-
tion] his blood sugar [glucose level].
Police have said it is possible his blood-sugar
levels either spiked or dropped and caused
him to become disoriented.
He changed the pump every three days, and
his wife, Cecelia Hender, said he would have
needed to change it either the day he went
missing or the following day.
She said it is also possible it malfunctioned.
But the effects of having low blood sugar [glu-
cose level] usually hits a [person with Insulinitis]
.... much faster than those associated with too
much sugar [glucose] ... "And in the extreme,"
he continued, "it hits them so fast and hard,
the person has no reasonable chance to re-
spond and dodge the bullet [at night, with
no conscious awareness of glucose level, the ...
.... risk is highest for everyone who does not
utilize a Continuous Glucose Monitor; how-
ever, the risk is also present during the day,
that risk greatest for individuals which have
limited to no awareness of low glucose until
it exhibits its presence and others must re-
spond to that with glucose-elevating sub-
stances, like glucose tabs / candy / sugared
drink / orange juice, or with a glucose injec-
tion]."
How individuals respond to severe drops in
sugar can vary [the variability is present in
everyone with the condition, from incident
to incident, and a low glucose event *de-
creases* the ability to sense another low
glucose event for an indeterminate number
of days], Fogel said, but generally, they can
become confused [loss of cognizance is typ-
ical] or excitable ...
.... [the behavioral exhibitions are variable,
and can include the loss of the ability to
stand or the occurrence of a seizure causing
tremors]" without even realizing where they
are [in my case, I typically lose the ability to
realize who I am, and who others are, and
lose awareness of what I'm doing or why
I'm doing it]," and in ...
.... greater extremes, seizures or a loss of
consciousness are possible [loss of conscious-
ness is not uncommon, said loss which can
last for many hours, and if recovery isn't
made in time, that can lead to loss of life
due to the low glucose event itself, rather
than due to an accident or other event
causing the loss of life].
Furthermore, Fogel said insulin pumps gen-
erally defend against an "over-delivery" of
medication [many cases of deaths caused
by over-delivery of insulin via insulin pump
are documented, so it isn't free of risks
and the incidence of insulin pumps directly
causing deaths due to malfunction is low
but not zero]. But under-delivery, he said,
is "not an uncommon problem," whether
due to a mechanical malfunction or a
block in the catheter.
Fogel added that medical examiners may
be able to determine what Hender's blood
sugar level [glucose level] was when he
died.
"But how it got there may be impossible,"
he said [well, the use of injected or pumped
in insulin to deal with a pancreas which has
lost all or close-to all of its ability to produce
insulin, an extremely high risk endeavor
in *all* cases which, per widespread esti-
mates, directly causes the premature deaths
of about 6% of persons with Insulinitis].
- - - end excerpts - - -
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- - -
Pro-Humanist FREELOVER
C.ure I.nsulinitis A.ssociation
http://prohuman.net/cureinsulinitisassociation.htm
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