A Deeper Look into Diabetes Only Gets You So Deep

by james s. hirsch

Such were my expectations, sort of, when my son, Garrett, and I visited the exhibit, Diabetes: A Deeper Look, at the Museum of Science in Boston. The interactive display was developed by the Detroit Science Center, and its goal is to help the public better understand diabetes, its treatments, and the role insulin plays in the body.

According to the press release, "visitors . . . enter through a giant cell structure that simulates insulin's role in getting glucose (sugar) to provide energy to cells." The blood vessel has "40,000 LED lights pulsating to the sound of a heartbeat."

I like ambitious projects, but let's just say, I never got the pulsating effect, I never heard a heartbeat, and I can't say I have a better understanding of my red blood cells. I'm not saying I didn't enjoy the exhibit. I thought it had some worthy educational and creative displays, but I have mixed feelings about the project, and I have to admit that I never really connected to the faux capillaries.

Part of the problem, at least with the red blood cell, may have been the way the whole exhibit was set up. When you walked up to it, you came across a number of interactive and educational displays. Then you made a left turn and – boom – you're inside a 40-foot red tube that is supposed to be a blood vessel. But my guess is that most people didn't know it. If we had seen the blood vessel from afar, perhaps its cellular design would have been evident. But as constructed, it didn't register. I asked Garrett, who's 10, what he thought this was. "A red cave," he said. I had to agree with him. It had what appeared to be white snowflakes hanging from the top. I don't know what the snowflakes were, but if sugar cubes had been attached, I'd have guessed glucose . . . and maybe I could have also guessed the exhibit's A1c level.

Information displays and interactive games were found throughout. Some were useful, such as the signs that explained the difference between type 1 and type 2 diabetes and who was at risk for either disease. One sign said that someone is diagnosed with diabetes in the U.S. every 20 seconds. A stationary bike and Stairmaster helped visitors get some exercise and learn about its importance in diabetes. There was a "rappin' refrigerator:" when you opened it, rappers sang about food choices.

In the "pharmaceutical laboratory," you tried to discover a new molecule by finding the final piece of a large jigsaw puzzle. Dozens of pieces were in a bin below, and after starting a timer, you had to find the piece that fits the puzzle and completes the molecule. It took Garrett "35 years" – based on how many seconds it took him to find the piece – to do it. It was a quick lesson for him on the perils of becoming a scientist or joining the pharmaceutical industry. But he enjoyed the challenge and several of the games, including an "insulin shooting gallery" that allowed him to use a toy gun to maintain blood sugar levels.

Other displays oversimplified to the point of silliness. The "Balance Exhibit," for example, required you to walk along a wooden path that "moved" with rotating circles. These circles represented the different variables for good glucose control – diet, stress, insulin, etc. – and you had to walk on them without bumping into big pads that read "Glucose: Too High," or "Glucose: Too Low." Thus, if you lost your balance, you'd hit one of the pads. But avoiding the pads, even with the ground rotating beneath you, was easy. If the idea was to convey to the public the difficulty of maintaining normal glucose levels, it failed miserably.

That's the problem of trying to educate the public about diabetes in a way that's fun or entertaining. Visitors may leave the exhibit with more information, and perhaps greater sensitivity to diabetes as an epidemic, but it's naïve to think you can replicate the diabetic experience for someone who doesn't have the disease.

There was, for example, an "injection simulator," which tries to mimic what an insulin injection feels like. You put your forearm on a pad and – whoosh – you felt a puff of air that tickled more than anything else. I saw several kids take their simulated injection and laugh at how much fun it was.

Well, I also remember when Garrett was diagnosed at age three, and when I gave him his first injection in the hospital, he leaned back, balled up his fist, and punched me as hard as he could. I don't know what that injection felt like to Garrett, but I'm certain it was not like a "puff of air."

In all, I commend the creators of the exhibit for tackling a difficult subject in a creative way and trying to raise awareness, but there is only so much an exhibit can do to recreate the diabetic experience – and I still don't know what the inside of a red blood cell feels like.

Finally, when the exhibit was introduced last year in Detroit, it was supposed to embark on a three-year tour around the country. But its corporate sponsor, sanofi-aventis, which provided funding to help build the exhibit, withdrew its support after the first year. The exhibit came to Boston with support from Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare and the Joslin Center, and, according to the Detroit Science Center, the exhibit will appear at the Maryland Science Center, but the dates have not been released. Beyond that, the exhibit's appearances are in doubt.