Whats the most annoying comment you've ever gotten about diabetes?

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by sweetpotater on January 23, 2009 at 9:04pm

To me, the most annoying comments are from people who are under the mistaken impression that Type 2 is "a result of poor diet and too little exercise." I used to think the same thing, until I was diagnosed T2 and started reading everything I could get my hands on, at which point I realized genetics are at least as critical as any other factor in determining who will and will not progress to T2.

If T2 was really the result of poor diet and too little exercise, millions more people would have it. In fact, poor diet and exercise may cause T2 to develop earlier in people who are already genetically predisposed to get it. But they do not CAUSE diabetes.

I get it that people with T1 are innocent victims of their own immune systems. What I don't understand is why so many people feel the need to contrast this fact with the idea that people with T2 have brought it on themselves through "poor lifestyle choices." In addition to being hurtful and beside the point, it's also simply not correct.

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Elizabeth on January 24, 2009 at 10:11am

Not necessarily so. T1 isn't as cut and dried as that any more than T2 is. Why is T1 so much more common in northern latitudes than southern? Not just about the genes--also the environment. Sunlight (and vitamin D generated from sunlight) contribute protective effects that can greatly reduce T1 onset.

But since when did it become about "innocent" or "guilty"? Are we really so judgmental as to think that people with T2 are somehow "at fault" for their disease? Lord, I sure hope not. Saying "poor lifestyle choices" is only a judgment if you assume (and I emphatically do NOT) that everyone is aware of the consequences of their choices. Nutrition and health classes are routinely cut in schools when they're underfunded; parents have little time to cook for their children anymore; very few people grow their own food; the media are saturated with messages that somehow we'll have peace on earth if only everyone has access to a specific brand of cola (high sugar, high acid, nutrient-poor). It is not rational to assume, in this environment, that most people have even the faintest clue about what's good and what's bad, or that even when they do, it's all that easy to change the deeply entrenched habits of a lifetime. So it's not about being good or bad, it's about making choices that are healthy.

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by sweetpotater on January 24, 2009 at 9:02pm

Well said. None of this is very cut and dried – if it were really all that simple, maybe we'd have a cure by now!

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Sheila on April 14, 2009 at 11:14am

Well, I lived in Nairobi, Kenya - East Africa - and had all the vitamin D you could possibly have and still was diagnosed with T1 at age 3 .
Back in the 1950's teachings were that you "had" to eat often - six times a day - carbs, lots of carbs - and you only took a "shot" once a day !!!!
Knowledge is soo important.

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Marie on January 29, 2009 at 1:23pm

Elizabeth,

"diabetes is a result of poor diet and too little exercise, which is more-or-less accurate when you're talking about Type 2 "

NO, IT IS NOT AT ALL ACCURATE. I am a 51 year old , always physically fit always been this thin , have always eaten properly and have always exercised 3+ times a week and am 5'2" and 114 lbs and I HAVE TYPE 2 DIABETES. It runs in my family without any link to obesity.

I get tired of explaining, "No I have never been overweight, no I have always eaten properly, no just because I am thin doesn't mean that I have Type 1...."

I was diagnosed 6 years ago, thought it was type 1.5 but, turns out no antibodes etc.so it is just straight type 2.
I control with diet, exercise and lots of testing.

If you understand type 1 it does not prove that you understand type 2. Diabetics can speak just as unknowingly as the non-D population.

Marie

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Anthony Holko on January 29, 2009 at 1:34pm

Dear Marie.

Thanks for your input: a slim type 2.

Even in the obese type 2 there is evidence that the diabetes or prediabetes preceeds the obesity in some people. It could be that the body thinks it is starving if the blood sugar doesnt get into the cells. So you eat more which does not do any good it is a bit like throwing more wood on a fire straved of oxygen.

We should not judge anyone too harsly for not understanding our diseases. Nobody on earth does. I have had really bad advice from Endos and dietitians. Just reading this web site shows the vast difference in the disease from patient to patient.

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Angela Griffith on January 23, 2009 at 4:07pm

"Your son is diabetic, right? He can't have rice!"

HAAAAAAA....... As if brown rice is bad for you. I'm so tired of people telling ME what my son can and can't eat and they are uneducated about the disease. I also hear "Oh... He'll grow out of it, don't worry"... NICE

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Chadd on January 23, 2009 at 7:44pm

I have a co-worker that I work with whom thinks insulin is sugar. So when I have a high glucose level, I need to give myself insulin to correct, she will say, "Why are you giving yourself more sugar when your already high". I just want to take the closet object and hit myself over the head to make sure that I'm not actually sleeping.

I don't know how many times I have advised that it's not surgar that is being pumped in my pump, that it's insulin a hormone. But it doesn't help.

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Rick Phillips on January 23, 2009 at 8:17pm

Hey here is one for you. When I first go it a friend asked how many cokes i drank to get that stuff. Of course I told him 2 million. He looked at me in awe and wanted to know if I had returned them for the deposit yet.

Rick Phillips

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Elizabeth on January 24, 2009 at 10:44am

OMG, that's hilarious.

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Laura on January 24, 2009 at 8:24am

OK well I will add to this...
How I know the new doc is not gonna work is because of these type comment or look.
I am sick and come see you

Doc after looking at my illnesses ..so you got type1 12 years ago and you have this and that and that..
me ...yep and I don't feel right
Doc...I would guess not you have alot of things wrong but look how well your doing your 42 that's amazing..

*sigh* I pretty much know he or she is not gonna help me unless I stop breathing
I get it I am blessed to be alive but it IS ok for me to want a better alive :)
Be loved

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Jan on January 24, 2009 at 9:01am

Here's another, that just cropped up last week (niece with Type 1 is in Middle School). Student A: "Why do you keep leaving class to go to the nurse all the time?" DN "Because I have diabetes and I leave a little early so I have time to eat lunch." Student A: "Why do you have diabetes already? Do you eat a lot of sweets?" DN (who is one of the thinnest students in school), "Does it LOOK like I eat a lot of sweets?" LOL.

▶ Reply to This

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• …
• 23
• 24
• 25
• 26
• 27
• …
• 83
• Next ›
• Page