Question

Mr. Jenaro is a 61-year old Spanish-speaking man who presents to the emergency room with his wife Delores. Mrs. Jenaro is also Spanish speaking, but understands some English. Mr. Jenaro complains of nausea and vomiting for two days and symptoms of confusion. His blood glucose is 796 mg/dL. Intravenous regular insulin (Novolin R) is prescribed and he is admitted for further evaluation. He will require teaching regarding his newly diagnosed diabetes. Mr. Jenaro is newly diagnosed with diabetes. His hemoglobin A1C is 10.3%. Mr. Jenaro is slightly overweight. He is 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighs 174 pounds (74 kg). He reports no form of regular exercise. He does not follow a special diet at home. He states, "I eat whatever Delores puts in front of me. She is a good cook." For the past few months, Mrs. Jenaro has noticed that her husband "has been very thirsty and has been up and down to the bathroom a hundred times a day." Neither one can recall how long it has been since these changes in Mr. Jenaro began. Delores states, "It has been quite a while now. It just seems to be getting worse and worse."

Discuss how culture may influence Mr. Jenaro's diabetes management in terms of food choices, diet and exercise, and use of an alternative health care provider.

Answer 1

The symptoms observed clearly indicate that person' is suffering highly with diabetes . It should be treated immediately otherwise leads to many other complications.

Hispanics display worse Type 2 diabetes self-management than non-Hispanic Whites .

Hispanic diets (tortillas, rice, beans) tend to be high in carbohydrates

O While carbs are healthy, for someone with diabetes, too many can be bad.

Glucose + starches = Carbohydrates

Too much carbohydrates= high glucose levels

And blood glucose could easily increase for anyone with diabetes (where the body does not use insulin properly), where they accumulate in the blood instead of being used for energy.

Both Mr. and Mrs. Jenaro need to learn about diabetes in general, using a medical interpreter.

In addition, they also need to be taught how to properly manage the situation at home. A medical translator could be used in a written document to translate information from English to Mexican.