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MEDICAL ANIMATION TRANSCRIPT: If you have gestational diabetes during your pregnancy, the level of sugar in your bloodstream is higher than normal. The sugar in your blood is called glucose. A hormone in your body, called insulin, acts like a key in a lock, when it attaches to receptors on your cells. The insulin opens your cells so glucose can enter them. Now your cells can use the glucose to produce the energy they need to function properly. A gland called the pancreas makes all the insulin your cells need to use glucose. The exact cause of gestational diabetes isn't known. However, the organ that attaches your baby to your uterus, called the placenta, makes hormones that may prevent insulin from letting glucose into your cells. As a result, the glucose in your blood rises above normal levels in a condition called hyperglycemia. Hyperglycemia is the hallmark of any type of diabetes. If your blood glucose levels are not kept in the normal range, you may develop complications, such as high blood pressure. In addition, you have an increased risk for premature birth, and cesarean birth, in which your doctor delivers your baby through an incision in your abdomen. Your baby may also be at risk for complications shortly after birth, including excessive birth weight, called macrosomia, low blood sugar, called hypoglycemia, a yellow color of your baby's skin, called jaundice, and difficulty breathing. Gestational diabetes usually goes away after your baby is born. The goal of treating gestational diabetes is to keep your blood glucose in your normal target range. You can do this by creating a healthy eating plan with your health care provider or a registered dietitian. Physical activity and exercise can also help you keep your blood glucose level within your normal target range. Your doctor may ask you to regularly check your blood glucose level with a glucose meter. To check your blood glucose level, you will insert a test strip into your glucose meter. Then you will stick your finger, and place a drop of blood onto the test strip. The glucose meter will measure and display your blood glucose level. If you have gestational diabetes, the American Diabetes Association recommends the following target ranges for blood glucose level-- 95 or less before a meal, 140 or less one hour after a meal, and 120 or less two hours after a meal. Check with your doctor for your specific target range. If diet and exercise are not able to keep your blood glucose level within your normal target range, your caregiver may prescribe insulin for you, and show you how to give yourself insulin shots. You can help prevent gestational diabetes by getting pre-conceptual counseling, in which you meet with your obstetrician before you get pregnant to plan a healthy pregnancy, losing excess pounds before you get pregnant, getting regular exercise before and during your pregnancy, and eating healthy foods.
"A few words about The Doe Report: recently in a brachial plexus injury
case, we used an image from The Doe Report to demonstrate the injury. We
downloaded the PDF file image, and were amazed at the quality. The hard
copies that you sent were even more clear. As well, we could not have been
happier when you customized the image and reversed the injury from the left
shoulder to the right shoulder, which is where our client's injury was.
The speed and cost-effectiveness of the product made it the perfect tool for
our purposes. We will use The Doe Report again in future cases."
Andrew Needle
Needle Gallagher & Ellenberg, P.A.
Miami, FL
"Thank you very much for the great work on the medical exhibits. Our trial
resulted in a $16 million verdict for a 9 year old boy with catastrophic
injuries, and the medical illustrations definitely played key role in the
trial."
David Cutt
Brayton Purcell
Salt Lake City, UT
"Whether it's demonstrating a rotator cuff tear, neck movement a few
milliseconds after rear impact, or a proposed lumbar fusion, the Doe Report
represents an instant on-line database of medical illustration for
health-care and legal professionals.
Illustrations can be purchased 'as is' or modified within hours and sent
either electronically or mounted on posterboard. An illustration is worth a
thousand words, as juries perk up and look intently to capture concepts
that are otherwise too abstract. Start with good illustrations, a clear and
direct voice, a view of the jury as 12 medical students on day one of
training, and your expert testimony becomes a pleasure, even on cross
examination. An experienced trial lawyer should also emphasize these
illustrations at the end of trial, as a means of visually reinforcing key
concepts covered.
As a treating physician, I also use these accurate illustrations to educate
my own patients about their medical conditions. The Doe Report is an
invaluable resource, and its authors at MLA have always been a pleasure to
work with."
Richard E. Seroussi M.D., M.Sc.
Diplomate, American Boards of Electrodiagnostic Medicine and PM&R
Seattle Spine & Rehabilitation Medicine
www.seattlespine.info
"The illustrations have consistently been well documented, accurate and
timely. Most important though is that the illustrations demonstrate to
juries and claims people the persuasive power of visual communication. Our
firm has achieved multiple eight figure settlements and verdicts over the
past ten years... Medical Legal Art has been there with us on every case."
Thomas C. Jones
Davis, Bethune & Jones, L.L.C.
Kansas City, MO www.dbjlaw.net
Medical Legal Art creates medical demonstrative evidence (medical
illustrations, drawings, pictures, graphics, charts, medical animations,
anatomical models, and interactive presentations) for use during legal
proceedings, including research, demand letters, client conferences,
depositions, arbitrations, mediations, settlement conferences, mock jury
trials and for use in the courtroom. We do not provide legal or medical
advice. If you have legal questions, you should find a lawyer with whom you
can discuss your case issues. If you have medical questions, you should seek the advice of a healthcare provider.