Not impressed with the attitude

[Jumbly]

The other day, on the radio (BBC local radio), they interviewed a young woman who said she had Type 1 diabetes, and said that Type 1 was the one you don't do anything to get! It did come across as if she was saying that we bring Type 2 upon ourselves. Ok, she was only 17, but I'm not sure she's been given the right information.

Or, is that really the case? Do all us Type 2 diabetics only have it because of our actions? Is that how it is? Is that how people see it?

You can see, from the press going on about the billions of pounds put in to treating diabetes, that it won't be long before they class it with smoking and drinking and that we are just wasting others money because of what we did.

I hope to be wrong

 

[Monica]

The overall impression we get from Radio and TV is- yes it's all your own fault that you have type 2. You should have had a better diet/lifestyle.

You find that some of that might be true, BUT there are some type 2s out there that are thin, healthy and sporty. So how did THEY bring it onto themselves?

If I wasn't a member on here, I'd still think that the first comment was 100% true. I now know better 🙂

 

[brett]

I agree with the above, some people are larger and dont excercise much, some people are thin and excercise regular. Both sets of people have type 1 or 2 diabetes. Personally i think if you are prone to the disorder you will get it weather its type 1 or 2, or the new ones such as lada etc. Obviously having a healthy diet and regular excercise help BOTH. Both can be hereditary so i do think its a case of genetics and just needs a trigger weather bad habits or a virus to trigger it and once triggered thats that.

 

[Andy HB]

It is possible to look thin, but still have elevated levels of what is known as visceral fat (that which surrounds the internal organs). I have heard that is implicated in the onset of type 2 diabetes (amongst other things).

There was a good program recently on BBC where the presenter had his visceral fat levels checked and they were found to be very high even though he looked a very normal size.

Apparently his father had type 2 and he was also at risk. More so with the levels of visceral fat that were found.

Fortunately, this visceral fat is usually the first to go with an improved diet and lifestyle.

Andy 🙂

 

[larkie]

What has always annoyed me with the ''your over weight your giving yourself type 2 '' argument is that if it was the case how are there so many over weight people who dont have any kind of diabetes at all..type 2 is just the next thing on the list that the society wants to hit us all over the head with a big stick about...cant wait to see which group is going to be the next whipping boy...!!!

 

[Medusa]

i know factors can influence but i was always type two was genetic.....or rather hereditery

 

[Robster65]

There is evidence that being prone to type 2, and having early symptoms, actually makes weight gain inevitable.

As said, a very large % of modern western populations overeat and all the wrong foods. Most don't develop diabetes (although heart disease, etc is a high risk) and not everyone who develops T2 is overweight.

As Andy said, it seems to be more to do with the visceral fat levels which are more likely to be present with high fat (or high carb) foods and a sedentary lifestyle.

The problem with the media is, it doesn't change its views very quickly. It still spouts the old ideas, along with most politicians and many HCPs. DUK don't seem to be in a rush to educate them either.

If they ignored diabetes and just said that everyone would be better off eating healthily and exercising, it would be more acceptable. But they like a big scary medical condition to make everyone take notice. And diabetes is flavour of the month.

Rob

 

[trophywench]

Yes Rob - 'Hyperinsul something' is it? - so the body is producing shedloads of insulin which ain't doing a lot because of insulin resistance and Phase 1 insulin production is probably a bit iffy too so every time the person eats summat with a carb in it, the BG goes up and then the person's organs aren't getting any glucose, which sends messages to the brain to send messages to the body to eat some carbs - so it's a completely vicious circle and weight gain is inevitable. Aaaarggghhh.

Take these tablets, eat plenty of carbs at every meal, don't test and lose weight - it's easy.

NOT.

To my eternal shame, I thought the same as that 17yo for a good many years after I got T1. Either you brought it on yourself or if not, you were pretty old and Hey - when you are old, stuff breaks .....

I know a lot better now.

If you are as sick of this attitude as you say you are (and I am too on your behalf although I'm a T1) why not join the Diabetes UK Big Lobby to Parliament on 15 May?

http://www.diabetes.org.uk/Get_involved/Diabetes-Voices/Take-action/The-Big-lobby/

 

[macabee]

On my first visit to my GP's diabetic clinic, I shall always remember his first words to me after the customary greeting "It's not your fault"

I am not overweight, I have had, at least for the last 15 years a healthy eating lifestyle, I swim and I walk.

Both my mother and her sister had T2 diabetes.

And so it is said 'It's in the genes!'

 

[Medusa]

and even if it was down to weight i truly believe that weight like height can be genetic and it is really really hard to lose weight esp for folks that may have other stuff going on like heart condition, high blood pressure, depression, asthma etc etc..... i also believe it is possible to be addicted to food,

 

[macabee]

and even if it was down to weight i truly believe that weight like height can be genetic and it is really really hard to lose weight esp for folks that may have other stuff going on like heart condition, high blood pressure, depression, asthma etc etc..... i also believe it is possible to be addicted to food,

That's very true "I live to eat, rather than eat to live"

 

[grufflybear]

Perceptions

The perception seems to be growing in the "media" is that T2 is your own fault and that the consequences and health issues ensuing from being T2 are avoidable. I have to say that this makes me very angry, I don't think anybody has yet come to any absolute scientific conclusion about what exactly will result in a person being T2 diabetic, there are many examples of thin fit people who are T2 and fair number of overweight inactive people who do not become diabetic.

The facile annoying presentation of my (our) condition only serves to distract from the things we can do to help ourselves avoid the consequences. There is increasing attention being given to the issue of obesity and it is becoming synonymous with T2 diabetes as if that is a consequence solely of obesity and poor lifestyle; And, to my mind worse, that being T2 is necessarily your own fault. I ate what I thought a very healthy wholefood diet before I was diagnosed and did well over the recommended amount of daily exercise and there must be plenty more people in my situation who will be surprised that they are diagnosed as diabetic because the focus is on the unhealthy lifestyle and excess weight and poor diet.

My understanding is that many peoples' insulin mechanisms deteriorate with age and even if not diabetic, many older people become less glucose tolerant even if they eat healthily and would benefit from dietary changes.

I remember my own GP telling me it was not my fault, he was more specific and told me that as I had a family history of T2 diabetes that was significant and unavoidable. What I would like to have learned earlier is that I could perhaps have avoided the consequences if I had modified my diet earlier and stepped up my exercise once I reached my middle years. I will never know for sure if I could have avoided the diabetic diagnosis completely or delayed it; It is certainly misleading and unhelpful to all of us and feels dangerously like we will be labelled a self fulfilling financial burden on the health service. I cringe every time I hear one of those predictions that half the population will be too fat to move by 2035 and the entire national health budget will be spent caring for diabetics due to their own wasteful lives.

And so I rant on.....

 

[tomtat]

Having only recently being diagnosed as T2 & very overweight, I have found that I am selective with who I tell about the condition because I know that even some close friends will say (or think) that it's my own fault. Perhaps they're right but at the moment I can't handle the guilt trip so I'm staying quiet.

 

[Ellie Jones]

We'll treading on sensitive and emotive ground here were it's easy to offend...

But we need to try and understand where she's coming from!

Like me she's T1 diabetic, we weren't given any options how ever slim of avoiding it! Even if we have a family genetic history there is no options open to us to avoid it... We are or we'll not full stop.

Type 2 diabetes is different some but not all, we have various options open to them, that can either avoid T2 altogether or limit the disease.. But you will have 3 categories within this group, those who's T2 like T1's it isn't an option, those who have other medical etc reasons, and those who chose to ignore...

And it's this latter group that all T2's will be marked by and all T1's will be grouped with T2's...

So yes to make a point of her T1 isn't self inflicted is right, whether she should have gone into all the in's and out's of T2 diabetes so those who did everything they could to avoid being T2 aren't unfairly blamed for their plight is another thing..

If she'd done that then it would have either taken all the air-time up or people would have switched off! Don't forget when we try to explain to others ourselves their eyes glaze over and there brain turns off!

 

[cherrypie]

The other day, on the radio (BBC local radio), they interviewed a young woman who said she had Type 1 diabetes, and said that Type 1 was the one you don't do anything to get! It did come across as if she was saying that we bring Type 2 upon ourselves. Ok, she was only 17, but I'm not sure she's been given the right information.

Or, is that really the case? Do all us Type 2 diabetics only have it because of our actions? Is that how it is? Is that how people see it?

You can see, from the press going on about the billions of pounds put in to treating diabetes, that it won't be long before they class it with smoking and drinking and that we are just wasting others money because of what we did.

I hope to be wrong

You'll get used to it Jumbly. The media love letting people know that Type 2's are all fat lazy slobs who deserve all they get. Trouble is they never seem to use an article that goes into more detail and so the public think that overeating and lazing about is why we have Type 2.

 

[grufflybear]

terminology

Terminology can be a minefield and the word "option" might make it sound as if T2 made a deliberate choice to ignore all the advice and chose to risk their eyesight, limbs and life expectancy by becoming diabetic. When we listen to the media I guess we are all looking for something that is about "us" and because our experiences vary so much in terms of our illness it is not surprising that sometimes we feel the wrong impression is made.

 

[Steff]

Us type 2s will never have the perception that is was our fault shaken off us, the fact is until the media are properly informed it will continue to happen,in my case yes im overweight and lived an unhealthy lifestyle so i take the blame fully for my type 2 I cant use gentics in my case as im the only type 2 in my family, but I still get very annoyed that whenever you see the media talk of type 2 the word lifestyle is used never genetics etc etc

 

[Emmaathome]

I take the blame for mine too - have always been somewhere between a stone and two overweight, dont do enough exercise, work full time in a very stressful desk job so not much moving around at work etc etc. I am also absolutely an apple shape which is apparently the worst. I said to the Doc on diagnosis that it was all my fault, he said absolutely it wasnt, but I just wonder if i had done more to keep myself in shape I wouldnt be in this position...... Guess we'll never know....