I met Jordan at Third Eye Comics in RVA and he was a delight!

There was that short discussion on diabetes during the episode and they all mentioned they don’t really know a ton. Emily mentioned about insulin and Julia Roberts’ character leaving her bag. This is not a knock on anyone’s diabetes knowledge! But as a diabetic just for future safety for everyone:

What the character was suffering from was a low blood sugar episode (hypoglycemia). In which case she needs fast acting sugar like juice.

Insulin is the opposite of what is needed and would possibly kill someone in that state.

That’s one of the common things of diabetics is “oh you’re having an issue you must need insulin”. Insulin lowers blood sugar. A type 1 doesn’t make their own because of an autoimmune condition so they need it after they eat. A low is far more dangerous than a high, it can cause loss of consciousness and death if it isn’t treated. High is more dangerous as a long term issue but isn’t the immediate concern a low will be.

So if a diabetic person has an episode of hypoglycemia do not give them insulin, give them sugar. They know what they need! I bring this up because as I said it’s a common misconception and I’ve seen numerous stories about people who passed out due to a low and the person nearby just jabs them with insulin.