Sorry, long e-mail ahead:
I have type 1 diabetes, and have had a pretty bad hypoglycemic incident in a museum (sorry, Smithsonian American History!). I found myself without emergency supplies and ended up with a (very helpful) guard getting me a coke from...somewhere... as I sat having an epic meltdown on the bench.
The dangers of hypoglycemia are very real. Symptoms of hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) include intense confusion, sometimes paranoia, slurred speech, shaking, spasms, sweating, combativeness, etc, and can end in seizures, loss of consciousness, and potentially coma and death.
Often, people who are hypoglycemic are not physically capable of thinking through the steps of "OK, I'm severely low, I need sugar NOW, where is the cafe? Can I make it to the cafe? Where is my money? Do I have enough money? Wait, where am I again?" And often times you cannot express what is going on to someone trying help you...and then trouble shooting their questions while still being very low.
Further, small children with diabetes often cannot express the warning signs of an impending hypo, and those who have a long diagnosis may have developed hypoglycemic insensitivity, and may not know that they are going low until it is very, very low (for example: Normal blood sugar for a non-diabetic is 80-120 mg/dl. I have a friend who is 25 years post Dx, and cannot tell until she is in the 30 mg/dl range...at which point you are probably having trouble walking and talking).
Even your best controlled diabetic has a hypo sneak up on them once in a while. It is the reality of the disease. Continuous glucose monitors have an annoying 40 minute lag, and carb counting on the go can be an exercise in theoretical mathematics, and particularly in a museum, you can end up getting more activity than you bargained (and ate) for. The need aspect of carrying juice or Coke or cake frosting or candies or whatever else is very real, and the need to eat it is immediate. It's just as vital as having a bottle of water for a pulmonary issue.
My advice as both a diabetic and a registrar is thus: most people with the need for medical liquids are hyper aware and ready to defend their need to have them. They're also highly unlikely to abuse the privilege. If you see someone whip out a juice box in a gallery and go to town, have the gallery attendants gently ask if everything is ok. If they respond with "I'm having a low blood sugar"/"I'm diabetic"/"HELP", then have an attendant stay with them while they eat or drink, and just wait for the person to affirm that they're better, or summon additional help if needed. Having an attendant try to guide or keep the person in one space (a bench, a chair, the floor if needed) will help contain any accidental spills and keep them away from objects, and if there is a spill or mess, the attendant can call for housekeeping immediately.
If the attendant approaches and says "is everything ok?" and the person says "Yeah I'm just hungry", then just have them go about the normal, "I'm sorry, we don't permit liquids in the gallery, could you please either go to the cafe or cap your bottle and put it in your purse", drill.
As to the uptick: in general, diabetics are living much longer, and more actively, than they ever have before. Thanks, technology! Diabetics are also being more accurately diagnosed, so the number of people diagnosed with diabetes has increased. Further, I think that the increase in the number of diabetics, coupled with a strong online presence (called the DOC- diabetes online community) is helping to make diabetics more visible and vocal about their disease, and combat some of the misinformation and outdated ideas about the disease. That might explain some of the increase you see, but for every Me in a smiling pancreas t-shirt and wearing an insulin pump covered in a Saltire, there's probably three diabetics you don't see.
Pancreatically yours,
Tracey Berg-Fulton, M.Litt.
Type 1 Diabetic, 19 years