In: Nursing
For this exercise, you will log your carbohydrate intake (proteins,fats,..etc) for 2 days, as if you were a diabetic who weighs 140 Ibs.Then, for each meal or snack, you will calculate an appropriate dose of insulin. (use one unit per carb exchange) Insulin can either be long-acting or short acting, you will need to decide. That is, you will need to give both daily doses for “overnight and basal coverage”, as well as bolus doses for meal coverage.
in diabetic patient amount of carbohydrate, protein and fat intake is not defined, what is best for one person may not be best for another.
as research suggest, carbohydrate intake for diabetic includes 135-235grams per day ( 40-60gms per meal and 10-25gms per snack). also it is suggested that carbohydrate intake should be 45-65% of total calorie intake. ie 1gm of carb = 4 calories. if you want 2000 total calories per day ( acc. wt gain, loss, maintainance). its calculated as:
2000x45=900 calories
therefore, 900 divided by 4 = 225 gms of carbohydrate per day.
As 1 unit rapid acting insulin dispose 12-15 gms of carbohydrate.
so, for a snack containing 10 gms of carb = 1 unit of insulin can be injected.
for a meal containing 60 gms of carb = 4 units of insulin can be injected. known as bolus doses for meal coverage.( fast acting)
for overnight and basal coverage we need to calculate total daily insulin requirenment;
ie. weight in pounds divided by 4.
as above the weight mentioned is 140lbs divided by 4 = 35 units /day.
therefore, basal dose = 50% of total daily insulin requirnment ( short acting)
=17.5 units is the basal coverage dose per day.