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Particularly misinformed and misleading

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Northerner

Northerner

Admin (Retired)
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
This response from a doctor to an enquiry of what diabetes is is full of sweeping generalities and misleading hogwash - I wonder if he's actually a medical doctor?

http://www.independent.ie/health/imminent-2806425.html

Type 1 only in young people?
Type 2 caused by too much sugar?
Type 2 caused by the pancreas 'wearing out'?

🙄 <shakes head> 🙄
 
Type 1 only in young people - no, answer part of article said "Type 1 is a condition mainly contracted by young people."

Type 2 caused by the pancreas 'wearing out'? - no, answer part of article said "In some people, the pancreas gets worn out by this activity and starts to fail."

Sure, some parts of article aren't as I would have written it, but overall it seems fair answer to the question posed in the first paragraph.

"I wonder if he's actually a medical doctor?" - should be pretty easy to check, given his name, specialty and hospital. If he were in UK, would be easy enough to check GMC registration, and I wouldn't be surprised if there's an equivalent body with online registration check in Republic of Ireland.
 
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But this statement perpetuates one of the great myths about diabetes 'It results from a lifetime habit of excessive sugar in our diet' and there is no comment that the origins of the two types are different.
 
Northerner said:
But this statement perpetuates one of the great myths about diabetes 'It results from a lifetime habit of excessive sugar in our diet' and there is no comment that the origins of the two types are different.
Click to expand...

Dear Alan,

Don't be too hard on him, because too much sugar (although, gram for gram starch is over twice as bad at producing glucose spikes!), can in some people, cause excessively high insulin which then goes on to cause insulin resistance, which then in turn requires more insulin and so on... The end result is diabetes (where the pancreas just cannot supply enough insulin - even though it is supplying large amounts), obesity (where it does and an equlibrium may be established where the person becomes weight stable but not diabetic), and or heart disease. Which one gets you first is down to your genes.

Regards Dodger
 
C*5_Dodger said:
Dear Alan,

Don't be too hard on him, because too much sugar (although, gram for gram starch is over twice as bad at producing glucose spikes!), can in some people, cause excessively high insulin which then goes on to cause insulin resistance, which then in turn requires more insulin and so on... The end result is diabetes (where the pancreas just cannot supply enough insulin - even though it is supplying large amounts), obesity (where it does and an equlibrium may be established where the person becomes weight stable but not diabetic), and or heart disease. Which one gets you first is down to your genes.

Regards Dodger
Click to expand...

Indeed, but whilst this man explains that mechanism he simply states that diabetes results from eating too much sugar. Now I am sure that many people reading that who eat very little sugar will a) think they are safe from contracting diabetes and b) think anyone who has it has some sort of lifelong sugar addiction. White bread is worse than sugar but wouldn't even enter someone's mind (clearly, given the prevalence of it on supermarket shelves) as a danger.

It's the statement of one single cause that gets my goat! 😱 Maybe I'm just crabby because of the hot weather and another sleep-troubled night! 😉
 
Northerner said:
Indeed, but whilst this man explains that mechanism he simply states that diabetes results from eating too much sugar. Now I am sure that many people reading that who eat very little sugar will a) think they are safe from contracting diabetes and b) think anyone who has it has some sort of lifelong sugar addiction. White bread is worse than sugar but wouldn't even enter someone's mind (clearly, given the prevalence of it on supermarket shelves) as a danger.

It's the statement of one single cause that gets my goat! 😱 Maybe I'm just crabby because of the hot weather and another sleep-troubled night! 😉
Click to expand...

Dear Northie,

You are correct, - you crabby - never:D

PS. I'm not sure where you are but here in Cheshire this heat is killing me! Last night I hardly slept a wink.

Regards Dodger
 
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From Five diabetes myths busted
by David Kendall, M.D., is the chief scientific and medical officer of the The American Diabetes Association.

2)Myth: Eating too much sugar causes diabetes.

Fact: There is no one food or nutrient that causes diabetes. Type 1 diabetes (where all of the body’s insulin producing cells are destroyed) develops both because of genetics and from poorly understood environmental triggers that result in the onset of the disease. Type 2 diabetes is the result of both genetic and lifestyle factors.

There is no question that being overweight or obese increases your risk for developing type 2 diabetes. Weight gain occurs as a result of excess calories, and whether these calories come from a soda, breads, snacks or meat doesn’t generally matter. Because of genetics, some people gain weight more easily than others, but there is still an imbalance between calories eaten and those burned off.

Because of the complex relationship between genetics, the environment and lifestyle, it is incorrect to say that sugar causes diabetes
Click to expand...

rest of the myths here, suspect a couple of the others might be a bit controversial.
http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2011/06/24/five-diabetes-myths-busted/
 
HelenM said:
From Five diabetes myths busted
by David Kendall, M.D., is the chief scientific and medical officer of the The American Diabetes Association.

2)Myth: Eating too much sugar causes diabetes.

Fact: There is no one food or nutrient that causes diabetes. Type 1 diabetes (where all of the body’s insulin producing cells are destroyed) develops both because of genetics and from poorly understood environmental triggers that result in the onset of the disease. Type 2 diabetes is the result of both genetic and lifestyle factors.

There is no question that being overweight or obese increases your risk for developing type 2 diabetes. Weight gain occurs as a result of excess calories, and whether these calories come from a soda, breads, snacks or meat doesn’t generally matter. Because of genetics, some people gain weight more easily than others, but there is still an imbalance between calories eaten and those burned off.

Because of the complex relationship between genetics, the environment and lifestyle, it is incorrect to say that sugar causes diabetes


rest of the myths here, suspect a couple of the others might be a bit controversial.
http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2011/06/24/five-diabetes-myths-busted/
Click to expand...

Dear HelenM,

Eating too much sugar may not cause diabetes - but it may. It is not possible to make a blanket statement. "Type 2 diabetes is the result of both genetic and lifestyle factors." One of the lifestyle factors that cause diabetes may be sugar - I am only talking about type 2 here.

"Weight gain occurs as a result of excess calories, and whether these calories come from a soda, breads, snacks or meat doesn’t generally matter. Because of genetics, some people gain weight more easily than others, but there is still an imbalance between calories eaten and those burned off."

All you are doing here is, in effect, stating the 1st Law of Thermodynamics which ofcourse MUST be true but you cannot say that the weight gain is a cause it could just as well be an effect. In fact if you read my review of "Why we get Fat" you will see that Gary Taubes is convinced that the underlying cause is chronically high insulin levels trapping fat in the fat cells. And lastly, if you can show me how you burn a calorie (ie burn heat, which is just the random kinetic energy of the molecules) I would be flabbergated! You don't burn (oxidise) energy you burn fuel (glucose or fat in the Krebs cycle) and one of the end products is energy (calories) ie oxidisation is an exothermic reaction.

Regards Dodger
 
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Dodger,
I think we probably would have to agree to differ about many of Taube's ideas. I haven't read his latest book but have read his tome. I disagree with much he has written but don't think that this is the place to go into it.

Rather than get involved in a complex disussion, perhaps you might like to read some of the posts on this blog which explore this issue.
http://carbsanity.blogspot.com/2011/04/gcbc-reference-check-part-iv-of-kipnis.html
 
HelenM said:
Dodger,
I think we probably would have to agree to differ about many of Taube's ideas. I haven't read his latest book but have read his tome. I disagree with much he has written but don't think that this is the place to go into it.

Rather than get involved in a complex disussion, perhaps you might like to read some of the posts on this blog which explore this issue.
http://carbsanity.blogspot.com/2011/04/gcbc-reference-check-part-iv-of-kipnis.html
Click to expand...

Dear HelenM,

Ok, we agree to disagree. However, just let me say that I never expected anyone on this forum to agree with my (and Taubes) viewpoint - with the exception of you (and maybe one other)! Lastly, the thing about burning calories is not from Taubes - it is purely mine. I was gratified to learn that non other than Richard Feynman (of Quantum Electrodynamics fame) held the same viewpoint - see his book "Six Easy Pieces". I will look at the site you suggest - how about you looking at this from Taubes Blog

Warmest Regards Dodger
 
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C*5_Dodger said:
Dear HelenM,

Ok, we agree to disagree. However, just let me say that I never expected anyone on this forum to agree with my (and Taubes) viewpoint - with the exception of you (and maybe one other)! Lastly, the thing about burning calories is not from Taubes - it is purely mine. I was gratified to learn that non other than Richard Feynman (of Quantum Electrodynamics fame) held the same viewpoint - see his book "Six Easy Pieces". I will look at the site you suggest - how about you looking at this from Taubes Blog

Warmest Regards Dodger
Click to expand...

Edit: I see your point even more clearly, my reading of the site you suggested is its slagging off Taubes so you reading Taubes's blog will do nothing - I guess we're back to square one - agree to disagree. Maybe the "one other" will see it my way! 🙄

Warmest Regards Dodger
 
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Hi I haven't been on here for a couple of days, this weather is far too much for me :(
As for dr's and people in general getting things 'wrong' about Types 1 and 2, it doesn't really bother me too much. There are other serious things going on in peoples lives and in the world, so I won't be losing my rag over it.
It's usually the ill informed/or the 'I know it all person' 😉 that likes to put forward their views, rightly or wrongly, true or false, fiction or non fiction.

Anyway, I hope you are all taking care of yourselves in this unbearable hot and sticky weather. Best wishes Sheena x
 
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