Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Marps on March 18, 2011 at 9:58am

Acidrock is right. To develop Type 2, you have to have the genetic make up first. Being obese can make the Type 2 "come out", but the genetic make up had to have been there to begin with.

It's hard explaining the differences between the types when even fellow diabetics don't understand. We should all be banding together to present the best possible scenarios and truths.

- Type 1 for 13 years.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Anonymous Jim on March 18, 2011 at 4:45am

Must agree with Acid, obesity can be a contributing factor, so is age, Agent Orange exposure, genetics. Non of the T-2s I personally know are obese some are heavy but not obese

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by acidrock23 on March 18, 2011 at 4:48am

MrsAcidRock's uncle practiced judo enough to work as a judge in the 1976 Olympics and hunted all over the UP in Michigan, very active guy, not obese at all and apparently got tagged w/ prediabetes and is working around it. I'm not sure exactly what he does as we haven't seen them for a while. He's not heavy at all.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Marps on March 18, 2011 at 10:08am

My older brother is now pre-diabetic. Type 2 runs in my father's side of the family- only showing in my grandfather who is tall and lean, but obviously getting older in his 80s. Didn't develop Type 2 until about 5 years ago.

My brother is 6'3" and just over 200 lbs. He regularly works out, works in a machine shop, so is constantely moving around and is not obese- hardly overweight at all. He carries a lot of muscle and uses the bike and elliptical machines to keep his metabolism up. He eats mostly vegetables and small amounts of meats. Extremely low carb. Age 29

Type 1 doesnt run in my family either. But the jury is still out on what causes Type 1. I'm the first in my bloodline to have Type 1 show it's head. It could have been a gene my family carried for years, or it could have been caused by some environmental factor- such as limited vitamin D exposure.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Dee on March 18, 2011 at 7:22pm

A guy my other half used to run with in a hariers club got diagnosed with T2 he was in pretty good shape, but still had a bit of the office worker belly... He was so upset about not being allowed to drink EVER (according to his doc) that he went from running 5k races to doing marathons so that he could still have a beer or two a week! Managed to get off meds, but we've since lost contact with him so don't know where he's at 10 years later.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Natalie ._c- on March 18, 2011 at 8:26pm

And those so-called reputable websites are wrong. (Although there is also the possibility that you are reading them wrong) Obesity can unmask Type 2 diabetes in a person who is genetically prone to it, which is to say it can become evident earlier in life, but that's a lot different from CAUSE. If a person with the genes for Type 2 lives long enough, they WILL develop it, even if they are skin and bones. The reason you didn't see it as much historically is that most people died before they could develop Type 2. Tell my friend Anne-Marie, who is 83 years old, 5'7" and weighs 100 lb. that she developed Type 2 because of obesity.

And then tell me that all those morbidly obese people without the genes for Type 2 are going to get it -- you'd be dead wrong. Without the genes, you can get as fat as you want, but you will not develop Type 2. Ever.

Pastelpainter is right -- there is increasing evidence that the Type 2 genetics leads to the obesity and not the other way around. There are a whole lot of things that go haywire in Type 2, and at least 13 genes (at last count -- maybe more now) have been found that contribute to Type 2, but NONE of them are related to obesity.

While it is true that obesity contributes to insulin resistance, that is not the only problem in Type 2. When a non-diabetic becomes obese and insulin resistant, his pancreas just grows more beta cells, and they secrete more insulin and everything is hunky dory. But if the pancreas cannot secrete more insulin, and the beta cells begin to die, then the person develops diabetes. That's NOT obesity talking at all -- it's a dysfunction of the pancreas, and possibly other digestive enzymes and hormones as well. And it's genetic.

Please study up on Type 2 in the medical journals, and not the popular media websites -- they tell a very different story!

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by LaGuitariste on March 19, 2011 at 3:36am

Obesity doesn't cause T2 -- it's a commonly concurrent condition in those who were born with the T2 genes. Losing weight doesn't cure T2 either -- it slows the progression, at best.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Rebecca on March 24, 2011 at 3:45pm

I agree with what you are saying. I have stated the same thing on here before and had people jump down my thoat about it. While obesity is by no means the only cause of type one diabetes. It is the LEADING cause. Out of all diabetics in the world, 7% are type 1. I have a feeling that the type 2's who are otherwise thin and healthy are also, in a similar situation, as far a statistics go. This sounds cliche, but I feel as diabetics we should be using our similarities to RELATE to each other, not our differences to ALIENATE each other.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Randy on March 24, 2011 at 3:54pm

I agree completely. I think it may have been said already, but here is my take. The "cause" and the path may be different, but in the end we all suffer from the same affliction and the same complications. With such a varied disease we are virtually all different in some aspects. The fact is we ALL have D. The only real difference between type 1 and type 2 is the initial treatment.

I know, it's a simplified view, but really, does all the other stuff mean anything?

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Rye on March 17, 2011 at 4:48pm

I had to go to a clinic and tell the doctor how to write my prescription, twice because he never heard of my medication. The nurse had to look it up. The pharmacist questioned me was I suppose to take that much insulin. And thats the medical community!!! Dont even get me started on regular people. There is not as much coverage/ information on type 1 as there is type 2 so people do not understand the difference. I have some luck when I say juvenile diabetes although I then I have to explain why I did not have it as a child....I dont think there will ever be equal amount of information floating out there because there are so many more people with type 2 than type 1.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Duchess on March 17, 2011 at 4:49pm

Rye, I completely agree with you!

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by MossDog on March 17, 2011 at 5:07pm

That's funny Rye. I once wanted to try Apidra. I had spoken to my PCP about and he said it was fine except he forgot to write the Rx for it. I called his nurse and she had never heard of it. She got quite snippy with me and then continued to ask me what strength it was. I don't know if she was trying to see if I knew what I was talking about or if she was just that naive but I told her that no rapid acting insulin is made at any other strength than U-100 (at least none that are commercially available). She did not have much to say to me after that.........

• ▶ Reply

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• …
• 18
• Next ›
• Page