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Can you be "healthy" with diabetes?

H

helli

Well-Known Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
I recently had an initial appointment with a new consultant which had nothing to do with diabetes.
After discussing the issue he asked if I was otherwise healthy. I automatically answers that I was healthy, did loads of sport, etc. To which he responded "So no heart conditions, diabetes, etc.?"
As I have no complications from diabetes after more than 20 years and maintain a (relatively) low HBA1c, I do not consider having diabetes makes me unhealthy.

What do others thing? Would you mention diabetes if asked whether you were healthy?
Was this just an awkward way of asking whether I had any other medical conditions? Or do HCP consider that we are not healthy because we have diabetes?

I am only asking out of curiosity, it is not something that upset me.
 
I actually consider that I am more healthy because of my diabetes rather than less healthy because I have altered my diet as a result of my diagnosis and it was not healthy before. I am conscious of every single thing that I eat and drink because I have to be and keeping fit, compared to before diagnosis, plus I have more regular health checks. I can list positive changes long standing pre-diagnosis health conditions. I definitely do not feel that diabetes makes me less healthy, but maybe that is because I have the tools and knowledge and support to manage it well.
 
rebrascora said:
I actually consider that I am more healthy because of my diabetes rather than less healthy because I have altered my diet as a result of my diagnosis and it was not healthy before. I am conscious of every single thing that I eat and drink because I have to be and keeping fit, compared to before diagnosis, plus I have more regular health checks. I can list positive changes long standing pre-diagnosis health conditions. I definitely do not feel that diabetes makes me less healthy, but maybe that is because I have the tools and knowledge and support to manage it well.
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Sorry, I think the question in the title is unclear. I am not asking if you are healthy or healthier?
I am asking whether it is right for a HCP to ask if we have medical conditions such as diabetes by asking "are you healthy?" is valid.
 
JITR said:
@helli
To level the playing field for the rest of us, would you say Type 1 successfully treated with insulin is equivalent to 'full remission' (HbA1c less than 39) from Type 2 and similarly for other types?
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I appreciate your comment is directed at helli but I cannot achieve an HbA1c below 42 without having significant hypos which would be detrimental to my health.... But then I do not consider that adversely affects my long term health. If I can manage 45-50, I am very happy and so is my consultant. I know you believe that lower is better, but the risk of long term complications at this level in minimal and there are bigger risks in many other aspects of life like driving in rush hour traffic, or even stressing about getting it lower, in my opinion.
 
JITR said:
@helli
To level the playing field for the rest of us, would you say Type 1 successfully treated with insulin is equivalent to 'full remission' (HbA1c less than 39) from Type 2 and similarly for other types?
Click to expand...
There is no such thing as remission with Type 1 diabetes. It is an autoimmune condition which has killed off all insulin producing cells. Therefore, I will always have to take insulin but that can closely replicate what a healthy pancreas would do.
 
rebrascora said:
I appreciate your comment is directed at helli but I cannot achieve an HbA1c below 42 without having significant hypos which would be detrimental to my health.... But then I do not consider that adversely affects my long term health. If I can manage 45-50, I am very happy and so is my consultant. I know you believe that lower is better, but the risk of long term complications at this level in minimal and there are bigger risks in many other aspects of life like driving in rush hour traffic, or even stressing about getting it lower, in my opinion.
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I am clearly not explaining myself well.
I am asking whether the consultant was correct in his question if he wanted to know whether I had diabetes.
 
I might have to broach this subject with my consultant when I next see them. I think there are a lot of HCPs who are misinformed about diabetes in general so asking whether it is right that they believe it makes us unhealthy is just another level of that misinformation in my opinion.
 
Just to be clear, I don't think it is a valid way for them to assess if we are healthy.
 
helli said:
I will always have to take insulin but that can closely replicate what a healthy pancreas would do
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Exactly. It is possible to be in a 'healthy' state when taking insulin or living within the capacity of your pancreas (with or without medication). You can see that at Park Runs.

In a nutshell, I think an answer to your question is that healthy people stay healthy by avoiding maladies as best they can, while HCPs are looking for maladies to treat.

I have deleted my post with HbA1c numbers as open to misinterpretation.
 
I think it was a general question to ask if you were generally healthy which is a very wide range. To which he appended a few common examples of conditions that the general public might be associated with a lack of health. When we hear "diabetes" we have a very different set of associations with that word. Given your (and our) situation I might have answered "Well I'm a type 1 diabetic but I don't think that changes my original answer"

and in answer to the thread title, can you be "healthy" with diabetes? I intend to give it a damn good try.
 
Yes I definitely consider myself healthy. Yes I have diabetes T2, but it is very well controlled and my hbac1 is 38. I am a healthy weight, my waist is less than half my height. I swim continuously for an hour twice a week. I do yoga, ballroom dancing and GP referral circuit training (resistance and weight) My BP, heart etc are healthy. I do have bad arthritis and a weak meniscus in one knee, so don’t go to the gym anymore. But I walk whenever I can and leave the car at home. I’ve always been very active and diabetes hasn’t changed that. I’m on insulin so it’s been a bit of a balancing act to get doses right but all good now Always ate home cooked healthy food, so now I just don’t eat the pasta rice potatoes accompaniments and changed fruits to low carb.
 
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@helli - to answer your question I think in the tone it was asked.

I would hope a consultant would have the intellectual wit only to ask questions to which an unequivocal answer can be given. "Otherwise are you healthy?" is not such a question.

The term "healthy" means wildly different things to different people and so any answer to that question can mean little to the consultant other than some giving some indication of the attitude of the patient to their health.

Have you any other diagnosed conditions or are you on any medications would be more sensible if the consultant was interested in factors which might impinge on his diagnosis or treatment.
 
helli said:
I recently had an initial appointment with a new consultant which had nothing to do with diabetes. After discussing the issue he asked if I was otherwise healthy. I automatically answers that I was healthy, did loads of sport, etc. To which he responded "So no heart conditions, diabetes, etc.?
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To be fair to the consultant, the conversation soon established you consider yourself to be healthy and have T1D.

In contrast my T2D was diagnosed after my first "annual review" for 10 years. In a telephone interview the clinician asked a series of questions and concluded everything was alright. He ordered a blood test only when I asked how I could tell if I was at risk of a stroke like my father.

Preventative tests should be made much more widely available so the healthy can make sure they stay healthy.
 
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My reaction would be..‘what do you mean by healthy?' And in my book, any question that needs to be answered with another question probably isn’t the best starting point for a conversation. Healthy as in, feeling fit and well, yes. Healthy as in, fully functioning without any outside intervention, no.
It could be shorthand for 'If you needed surgery or a hospital stay, is there anything we’d need to be aware of?' But if so, why not say that?
 
Apart from T1, I have atrial fibrillation, osteoarthritis and osteoporosis. All of which are managed with appropriate medication. I am also long-sighted and need hearing aids. But I currently consider myself “healthy” in that I am not actually “ill”. Does that make sense?!
 
JJay said:
Apart from T1, I have atrial fibrillation, osteoarthritis and osteoporosis. All of which are managed with appropriate medication. I am also long-sighted and need hearing aids. But I currently consider myself “healthy” in that I am not actually “ill”. Does that make sense?!
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Complete sense - although my list is shorter, I feel the same
 
It's an interesting question. I currently have cancer, Type 3c diabetes and recovering from major surgery but actually I'd say I'm in reasonably good health - active, optimum weight and pretty flexible. The GP always smiles when she asks 'other than that how are you?' I'm not running half marathons anymore but I'm probably fitter than I was in my 40s within the constraints of having large parts of my insides removed.
 
I got asked “are you well” when I had to go to A&E recently when I trapped my finger in a door. I answered yes as in I didn’t feel unwell.

A bit further in to the consultation they said “why didn’t you tell me you have diabetes” ? I answered because you asked me if I was well and I do feel well. I wasn’t being awkward & was answering the question. A bit too literally for them. It felt that being well/ healthy & having diabetes were somehow mutually exclusive.

I don’t feel unhealthy despite multiple complications. In my case it was a vague question trying to ask about anything else they should know, if they had asked about other health conditions I would have said yes I have diabetes.
 
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