Type 1 Diabetes- Abbreviations and medical terms defined

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Type 1 Diabetes- Abbreviations and medical terms defined

While in nursing school I had a classmate who had a rather anxious way about herself.  During our hospital training we would have a short debrief, err – drilling from our clinical instructors and then head off for our researched clinical experience.

As we sat down this classmate sheepishly told our instructor, “I have looked everywhere and I cannot seem to figure out what my patient is allergic to.”  (15 years ago we didn’t have the convenience of Google, can you imagine?)

The Instructor replied, “What is the abbreviation?”

My classmate blurted out, “She’s allergic to NKA!”

My Instructors head looked like it was about to pop off as she said: “That means she has No Known Allergies!”

Case in point being… what do all these abbreviations and medical terms mean to the rest of us?  Newly diagnosed we see and hear many acronyms.  With Type 1 Diabetes- Abbreviations and medical terms defined you will begin to understand this new language.

• ADA- American Diabetes Association
• Autoimmune- An overactive immune response of the body to itself.  The Immune system creates antibodies that attack and destroy healthy cells and tissues.
• BMI-  Body Mass Index, uses height and weight to determine body fat
• BS- Blood Sugar is the amount of glucose in your blood.
• CDE- Certified Diabetes Educator
• CGM- Continuous glucose monitor, used for “real time” blood sugars.
• DKA – Diabetic Ketoacidosis is a life threatening condition that develops in response to insufficient insulin.  The body begins to break down fat and muscle to use for energy forming ketones and metabolic acidosis.
• Endocrinologist- (Endo Doc) A physician who specializes in diagnosing and treating problems in the endocrine system.  You should have one of these if you have diabetes.
• EKG- Electrocardiogram.  With a new diagnosis many kids have imbalanced electrolytes that can cause some rhythm disturbances of the heart.  Most of the kids will get one of these.
• Fasting glucose- A blood sugar obtained when there is no food or drink after midnight.
• FS- Finger Stick
• Gastroenterologist- (GI Doc) A physician who specializes in diagnosing and treating problems in the gastrointestinal tract.  You should have one of these if you have Celiac disease.
• HgbA1C- Glycated Hemoglobin, your average blood sugar over a 3 month period.
• IDDM- Insulin Dependent Diabetes Mellitus, or Juvenile Diabetes (now known as Type 1 Diabetes)
• JDRF- Leader of the Type 1 diabetes community, improving lives and curing type 1 diabetes
• UA- Urinalysis
• NIDDM- Non Insulin Dependent Diabetes Mellitus (now known as Type 2 Diabetes, however some people have Type 2 and are Insulin dependent- not to confuse you even more)
  *Both IDDM and NIDDM are outdated terms but are still in high usage in the hospital setting*
• Ml- Milliliter, a measure of volume.
• NPO- Nothing by mouth
• Peds- Pediatrics
• PICU- Pediatric Intensive Care Unit
• Pump- Insulin Pump used to deliver short acting insulin continuously by a basal rate and bolus.
• RD- Registered Dietician
• SQ- Subcutaneous. The fatty layer of tissue below the skin where an insulin injection is given.
• Type 1 ½ - Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in Adults or (LADA), basically a slow onset of Type 1 diabetes presenting in adults.
• TSH- Thyroid Stimulating Hormone, a blood test to measure thyroid functioning.
• Units- A measure used for insulin, all syringes for insulin use this measure.
• 2 Hour Post-Prandial blood sugar- A blood sugar check 2 hours after eating.
• 24 Hour Urine- Urine literally collected for 24 hours, followed by fasting blood work in the morning to determine kidney functioning (Creatinine Clearance).

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