Diabetes?: condition,disease?

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AlisonM said:
I would agree, a disease is something you catch from someone or something else. Diabetes like many other illnesses is a condition you are either born with, or develop later. Illness, I would say can be either a disease or a condition.
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Ive never actually heard of someone being born with Diabetes. But I guess it does happen.

Of course it is a disease. Personally I don't really see myself as having a Disease, condition and certainly not an illness, so call it what you like :D
 
I just refer to myself as a diabetic. I think the term 'person with diabetes' is just pc crap.
As for it being a disease, it is. It is a chronic disease. It can also be refered to as a chronic illness or a medical condition. I'm not that bothered what other people call it, it's entirely a matter of personal preference, but if I had to call it anything I think I would prefer to call it a medical condition.
 
i just like telling people I'm diseased, it's always fun seeing the look on their faces :D I am evil!
 
salmonpuff said:
i just like telling people I'm diseased, it's always fun seeing the look on their faces :D I am evil!
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You can show them your Ganglion now as well :D.
 
The scientist has arrived! With my mighty authority of being a first year under grad (course is a joint honour in alcoholism and applied biomedical science) that Alan Jardine's definition is on the money. By definition it is a disease, it fits all the parameters.

What I cannot comprehend is why people have to refer to diabetics as "a person with diabetes" can we not get straight to the point and come out with it? We are diabetics, it's not as complex a thing as for example, trying to solve a rather complex murder in the days when your only option for forencsic science was "we have his finger prints" and the one respected mind on the matter was just as human and error prone as the rest of us (thank you Dr Bernard Spilsbury.) We are diabetics and are, for the most part, happy to be called that. Political Correctness is not a force for good any more. Granted it had its good points in its hey day. Where we stand at the moment means that we cannot call a spade a spade for fear of offending the afore mentioned spade and instigating disastrous litigation (apologies, I haven't let out my cynicism for a while now.) I must get to my point. I am a diabetic and frankly I wouldn't have it any other way.

What's worse is that I have to put it onto every form I have at work (prior to me getting my contract with the NHS it meant a visit to occupational health to be passed as fit for work, something I found hugely offensive. Bloody beauracracy.) It winds me up that people are obliged to know I have it, I understand it's for some good reasons but there are times when I'd rather just keep it to myself. Simple as that.

What I suppose I have been driving at is that yes, technically we are diseased. We are dependant upon medication to sustain life. I would struggle to comprehend a situation where people require medication to sustain life yet are not classed as diseased. Granted, there are many categories of disease and the good old Diabetes Mellitus falls into a few of them if memory serves (peer review time people! Check it out and rubbish someone's postulate!) There is no way around that fact, you can dress it up as much as you like and try to camouflage the fact but you will not get away from the fact now matter how much you try to conceal it.
 
Regarding the 'diabetic/person with diabetes' debate. I do think that it is appropriate in some cases that we use the latter term rather than 'diabetic'. Children in particular should not be defined by their illness, setting them apart from their peers. I remember well from my own childhood that certain children were 'spastics' if they suffered from cerebral palsy - and rarely did you think of them as people like everyone else behind their physical disability. So, I would prefer that 'Johnny' is just Johnny (who happens to have diabetes), not diabetic Johnny. In adults, hopefully it will help healthcare staff to not just think of us as the disease, but as people WITH a disease that needs careful management.

As for myself, I don't mind being called or calling myself a diabetic - I'm not going to be judged or bullied or set apart because of it at my age.
 
I usually refer to it as a condition, but don't have a problem with disease.
I am also not that bothered if you call me diabetic, but some people don't like it so would try not to call others.
 
sofaraway said:
I usually refer to it as a condition, but don't have a problem with disease.
I am also not that bothered if you call me diabetic, but some people don't like it so would try not to call others.
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Totally agree i dont really care if you call me diabetic or diseased, if i think some one is saying to get at me or be nasty then thats when i will react.
 
Sorry, I meant to say you can be born with a malfunctioning pancreas. I know one child who was born that way requiring insulin from the start, and therefore, as I understand it, diabetic from birth.
 
As a parent of child with diabetes, I prefer condition. My son isn't ill!

I also prefer child/person with diabetes as opposed to ''he's a diabetic''.

My son just has a condition which means he has to make reasonable adjustments to live the same life as everyone else - its doesn't define him.
I am the the most un-politically correct person I know, so I dont usually buy into all this, but to me, there is more to my son than just diabetes...so much more! So why would he be defined as such?
He also isn't disabled....he can do everything an ''able'' person can do, and more!

I do see though that it is a very personal thing, and my job at the moment is to make sure he grows up feeling as positive as possible about himself. At his age, anything that marks a child out as different can be targeted. I accept that he may get teased at school, but I want to to enable him with the confidence and knowledge to deal with it.
If when he gets older, he chooses to refer to himself as a diabetic, then thats down to him. 🙂
 
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