Insulin Dependent (2021)
electroacoustic
Type one diabetes is an autoimmune disease where the pancreas no longer produces insulin. There are no known causes as to why T1D develops, there are only speculations. Insulin is the hormone which allows the body’s energy source, sugar, into the cells. Without insulin, sugar builds up in the blood and the body starves. The human body cannot survive without insulin and will begin to break down muscles and fatty tissues for energy. Ketones, a byproduct of the breakdown of muscle and fatty tissue, are released into the bloodstream. As ketones build up in the blood, they make the body acidic and uninhabitable for the body’s organs. This acidification of the body is called diabeticketoacidosis (DKA) and it is fatal. If a diabetic does not have insulin, they will develop DKA, and they will die within three days.
The US is the only industrialized nation where there are no price caps on life sustaining medication. There is an insulin crisis; diabetics are forced to ration their insulin and/or turn to the black market because they cannot afford their insulin. Some have ended up dead. They should not have died, and we should not let any more die from a perfectly manageable disease.
This piece is devised of six parts:
Identity
Sisyphus
Ransom
Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk, Sanofi
Three Days
In Memory.