Public perceptions...

[grufflybear]

I recently told a long term aquaintance that I have T2 diabetes, his reponse began...

"You hardly seemed to fit the mental model of "over-indulgence-induced" Type II"

... I have gently and kindly educated him a little on the subject but his response did make me think about the perception that is created by references in the media. No one can fail to be aware of the hue and cry about obesity and unhealthy lifestyles and so often diabetes is referred to as if it is the inevitable result. I was only a stone or so overweight and I have been very picky about food for many years, yes I ate a little too much of it and it included more than enough sweet puds, but it featured mostly food which is traditionally good and healthy.

Anyway my old friends reaction made me start thinking about how the disease is perceived. Yes we as diabetics understand that diet and exercise is a key to helping ourselves, but what distresses me is that public perception may be that it is a self induced illness consequential upon living a lazy life trowelling down processed burgers and muck.

There must be thousands of people in the position I was in the last few years, at risk due to family history, starting to become less tolerant of glucose levels in their middle years but who think they are healthy enough and wont do anything in time because the impression is created that it only happens to really unhealthy obese people who don't exercise. Losing those 14 pounds 2 years ago and not eating quite so much oh so delicious home made bread could have prevented my diabetes and I would have acted if I had understood.

I can't help feeling more than ever that trying to avoid diabetes and dealing with it if you get it is so dependant on good information.

 

[Northerner]

I agree with you 100%! Although an unhealthy lifestyle can trigger Type 2 diabetes in those who are genetically susceptible, it's by no means true that that is the only reason why people are diagnosed with it. 20% of Type 2s are not overweight at diagnosis, and there is evidence that, in fact, the predisposition to diabetes may actually contribute to obesity in those who are. All the campaigns are directed at that one 'picture' of people with diabetes, and it is oversimplifying things to suggest that diabetes is a self-inflicted 'lifestyle choice'. Most annoying are the people who don't (and never have) work anywhere near as hard at their own health, but they'll be happy to air their 'knowledge' about how to tackle your health issues...🙄

 

[Robster65]

THere's been a lot of discussion about this topic, Gruffly, and you're right. The media do generally get it wrong.

It would seem that there could well a link to saturated fats and lack of regular exercise but the genetic component presumably determines how much of each you can tolerate or require.

If you are a model athlete but your genes dictate that your insulin resistance is going to be sky high, then you're going to develop it no matter what. Steve Redgrave as an example, who claims to be T2.

The public and media perception would stem from out of date research which pointed to unhealthy lifestyle as the key factor. But they didn't have access to genetic research then. Maybe it's the fault of the likes of DiabetesUK who should try harder to dispel some of the myths.

Rob

 

[mcdonagh47]

I can't help feeling more than ever that trying to avoid diabetes and dealing with it if you get it is so dependant on good information.

And that is precisely what is behind the "Hue and cry about unhealthy lifestyles" raising the risk of Type 2 diabetes. But the majority of overweight people don't seem to be listening to the bombardmnent of "good information" they are being subjected to - just as YOU (and I ) weren't listening to the deluge of messages about healthy eating, healthy lifestyles, losing weight, the threat of t2 diabetes etc. For most of us the lure of the delicious home-made bread was just too great.
You were only a stone overweight but that just shows how critical the weight issue is.

The first step in getting control of T2 diabetes are Lifestyle changes in Diet and Exercise and that fact tells you straight off the bat what the triggering issues are. And in what way the vast majority of newly dxed T2s have been remiss and are at fault.
We don't know we have the genes for T2 ( by choosing our grandparents carelessly) but we DO know that being overweight, not being active enough is wrong and unhealthy ; so we have NO excuse when the genes finally say "enough is enough" and kick in.

 

[Mark T]

What mcdonagh47 has written could be take as being a bit harsh - quit whining and live healthily.

However, someone who has a genetic risk of Type 2 ought to really be specially advised to maintain a healthy lifestyle and weight.

Yes, in theory everyone ought to eat healthily and exercise, but theory and reality almost never align. This is probably one bone of contention, that many people can happily stick two fingers up at the healthy living advice and not pay for it. But as diabetics, we don't have the choice unless we want to pay for it later (or not so later sometimes).

But the (one size fits all) advice given to us is in my opinion flawed. Healthy living advice tends to suggest that I would need around 2500 cals a day. Oh no I don't!!! I've found that I don't even have to hit 2000 and I'll start putting weight on - and that?s with being more active then I have been for the last 10 years.

 

[grufflybear]

Yes mcdonagh47 is a tad harsh but I am living proof that we make excuses until the bombshell hits. I knew my waist had expanded and I knew that I ate just a bit too much of the wrong kind of things. I reassured myself that I was over 6' tall and "broad" and as I was only 52, then only 53 and only a little bigger and avoided looking too much in the mirror at the extra 14 lbs resting above my trouser belt.... just a bit flabby not really too fat... well I will work on that next week... I thought...

Perhaps that is a message that isn't quite explicit enough, you really don't need to be much out of shape to need to face up and be honest with yourself about the risk, and yes I admit that I wasn't. The other aspect of this is that a healthy diet for a completely non-diabetic person is not necessarily enough of a change, perhaps I would have considered pursuing a rigorous low carb regime earlier... I just don't know, maybe I would have carried on munching home made wholegrain bread because I had adopted it as a healthier choice. And don't forget that the little NHS book you get when you are diagnosed as T2 isn't really up to speed with many of us on here who are getting good results by cutting out a lot of the things which are listed as healthy choices in that book.

I'm just thinking out loud - the message didn't quite get through to me in time and I accept that was pretty much my fault for not facing up to my family risk.... Interestingly my brother, who is a few years younger, has talked much about all of this since my diagnosis and already made up his mind to act now since he of course shares the same family history but he is a regular cyclist so is fitter than I am... that will help him so perhaps with my example he will heed the advice in time.

 

[Paul]

100% with you there I sometimes wonder if I have missed out as I eat Healtly and am not vastly over weight and do not smoke or drink wow I sound like a saint !


if only !!!!

 

[Vicsetter]

I do not know what the statistics are but I am sure from the T2 diabetics I know that the majority (>50%) do not take proper care of themselves.

If only it were that simple that bad diet and lack of exercise was the sole cause of T2 diabetes and good diet and exercise was the way to control it then mcdonagh47 should be proposed for a Nobel prize for contributions to science. It is a lot more complicated than that (as evidenced by that guy thats just been turned down for a stomach op and is on a diet of 600 cals a day and cannot exercise).

Back to Gruffly's original comments I think we diabetics tend to forget that the members on this forum are interested in Diabetes causes and the remedies/treatment. However the majority of the General public do not have this interest and are largely ignorant as is evidenced by the comments we see all too frequently (sometimes even from diabetics!). It is up to us to inform anyone who has got the wrong idea and that includes injecting in public.

 

[donnarob]

Do you ever feel embarrassed admitting that you have diabetes, for fear of being labelled by the masses out there? There is a stigma attached to Type 2 diabetes and I get very angry when photos of grossly overweight people are posted as if to insinuate that we are all the same, greedy, slothful, waste of spaces who can't control their eating habits!

Okay, admittedly, diagnosis was a wake up call, but usually is for everyone who has been burying their head in the sand for too long. What I know now, is that I get a blood test every 3 months, I know what I weigh, I know what my bp, cholesterol numbers are and I feel liberated that I have control.

Too many people are scared to go to the doctors for fear of what may be revealed. Not everyone likes hearing what they know is fact about their health, but since diagnosis, my health has improved two fold and I know what I have to continue doing to keep it that way.

Donna 🙂

 

[Northerner]

Well said Donna 🙂 I think you make a very good point about how many people may put off going to the doctor for fear of being stigmatised. There's also the danger that people who are only slightly overweight may think that it only applies to obese people and therefore dismiss diabetes as a possibility and put symptoms down to other, more generalised things like getting older.

 

[Barb3234]

I agree with Donna, to the extent that i have not yet told any friends as i don't want to be seen 'differently'. I know if I was a skinny diabetic I would not feel the same stigma that I do now.

I also agree about the benefits though; wake-up call really does cover it and i must admit i am looking after myself now in a way I have never done before. I view food totally differently and exercise, well it's just a habit that gets done every day. No biggie.

I think my diagnosis could easily be viewed as a life saver in the long term.

 

[grufflybear]

Agree Donna, and I feel that because they usually flash up pictures of the grossly overweight people, the people who are only a little overweight and borderline excess BMI etc will miss the point. I know because I did precisely that... Do I feel a stigma about it ? I would like to say no because I have had to learn so fast and make myself understand so much, but I guess I do because I haven't yet told all my friends and the reaction of the one who made me start this thread has that same public mis-perception.

Also very much empathise with Barb that right now I have a very healthy regime of diet and exercise, which even afert a short time have become pretty much habit and no real hardship at all, have a much reduced waistline already and my food bill is actually less than before... so I look on the positives and be glad of having the "wake up call". And I do at least know that I am doing what I can myself now... with help and advice found on here.

 

[Northerner]

Something that often concerns me about the stigma associated with diabetes because of the media/government campaigns is that people who are diagnosed are made to feel guilty and a burden at the very time that they need help, encouragement and support to learn how to manage the condition and turn things around. I've read many fantastic stories here from people whose lives have been transformed for the better by the 'wake-up call', but there are thousands of people who feel they need to hide it away, or try to ignore it, usually because they have received little in the way of practical information and support (by being provided with test strips and taught how to interpret results, for example).

I sometimes wonder if government money would be better spent not in trying to persuade the populace that they need to get fit and healthy to avoid diabetes, but in providing people who have been diagnosed with the best possible education and support so that they can manage it well and avoid costly treatments for complications down the line. Most people, I am sure, believe it is something that will never happen to them, so they lack the motivation to make changes.

 

[Robster65]

I suspect that the real message for a healthier population should be to eat less refined carbs, lower GI, get more exercise and try to understand some of the basic processes that happen in everyone's body.

Which is precisely the message that is/should be given to every diabetic.

But that doesn't sell newspapers and doesn't make non-diabetics feel good about themselves.

And of course, how many journalists are healthy eating, non-smoking, tee-totallers who go to the gym ? No, I can't imagine any either.🙄

So there'll probably be a lot more pot/kettle calling in the media which will allow the non-D public to carry on as they are feeling smug. Until they discover their body has a problem.

Rob

 

[MargB]

Excellent thread and very informative.

One of the first things the doc said to me was "this is not your fault". Straight off and he is known for being pretty blunt.

Thinking about it, once I passed 40 that I was regularly checked for heart problems, blood pressure taken, ECG - I could tell the monitoring had kicked in and faults have been found, more tests, medication, lifestyle changes etc.

But nothing like that was done for diabetes. Even though my mum - who was registered at the same practice as me for the first 50 years of my life - was diabetic and so were most of her family. That family history of diabetes does not seem to be noted on records so checks aren't made, or at least they weren't in my case.

Like others, I am thinking as I type but I think it would be beneficial if those high risk people were monitored as part of other check ups. For years I was able to control my cholesterol by diet. Routine would be a blood test, advise it was a little high, come back in a few months, I would be behave and eat healthily, return, great results, carry on. I was genuinely shocked on the return visit when the results had not come down again. My gp immediately reassured me she could see I had been eating healthily as the triglycerides figure was much improved but the time had come when diet alone would not beat the rising cholesterol so on to statins.

Thinking about, a few years before I became diabetic I had a high blood sugar reading on a blood test but the re-test was improved so it was put down to being a blip. Diabetes was not mentioned, no advice given, not asked about family history etc.

Better stop pondering.

 

[donnarob]

Firstly, before I go on, let me say, that without the help and advice metered out on this site, I would have found myself in a very lonely place.

I must admit my feet never touched the ground when I was first diagnosed, I was alerted by a letter sent to me by my new doctor who saw that my blood glucose levels were far too high. However, she was pretty sure it was hereditary and kept probing me about my family history. I have since found out that an uncle and first cousin both have diabetes type 1 and type 2. My late father, I suspect may have had the disease as well, but he was on so many other pills *15 in total for various other health issues, the doctor probably ignored the fact that he had diabetes. For the record, the doctor was a dipstick!

Hands up, I probably was guilty of not taking enough exercise, eating too many *what I thought were healthy yogurts *Danone Activita, but have never been guilty of eating too many sweets and cakes.

I do think that an awful lot of people out there who are newly diagnosed, get treated like Piraeus, in that, scare tactics will ensure that they sit up and listen, this may work in some cases, but certainly not in mine. If I had been treated to the shock tactics, I think I would have been frightened into not coming back to the doctor.

I thirst for information about this disease. I still get confused and wonder why my numbers on my meter can go out of kilter, but on the whole, I use my meter has the most valuable tool. I would be lost without it, as I treat it as my security blanket!

What I have learned most of all, is that one size does not fit all. Some diabetics can tolerate things that others cannot. I just wish the good old NHS would sit up and listen.

Donna 🙂

 

[Sheilagh1958]

Do you ever feel embarrassed admitting that you have diabetes, for fear of being labelled by the masses out there? There is a stigma attached to Type 2 diabetes and I get very angry when photos of grossly overweight people are posted as if to insinuate that we are all the same, greedy, slothful, waste of spaces who can't control their eating habits!

Okay, admittedly, diagnosis was a wake up call, but usually is for everyone who has been burying their head in the sand for too long. What I know now, is that I get a blood test every 3 months, I know what I weigh, I know what my bp, cholesterol numbers are and I feel liberated that I have control.

Too many people are scared to go to the doctors for fear of what may be revealed. Not everyone likes hearing what they know is fact about their health, but since diagnosis, my health has improved two fold and I know what I have to continue doing to keep it that way.

Donna 🙂

I agree with everything you have said Donna. Infact I would of written the exact same comments. 🙂

 

[Sheilagh1958]

I agree with Donna, to the extent that i have not yet told any friends as i don't want to be seen 'differently'. I know if I was a skinny diabetic I would not feel the same stigma that I do now.

I also agree about the benefits though; wake-up call really does cover it and i must admit i am looking after myself now in a way I have never done before. I view food totally differently and exercise, well it's just a habit that gets done every day. No biggie.

I think my diagnosis could easily be viewed as a life saver in the long term.

That is me to a tee Barb. Only told my family and 1 close overweight friend who I am hoping might learn from my mistakes.

 

[Barb3234]

Hmm, perhaps it's us 1958 babies Sheilagh? More alike than we realised!

 

[Steff]

I tell anyone who listens im diabetic, I was bullied and a very shy girl until I hit 19 and became a mother, I changed so much.My own opinion is treat my diabetes how I do my friends with respect but never take it for granted.
I spent 3 years before I was diagnosed putting how other people felt before me and then when I got diagnosed I made sure I would never let any narrow minded members of the public belittle or chastice my diabetes.Any member of my family dares to make a jibe of any type then I will disown them, but i know categorically no one will.
I certainly feel it was my fault that I was diagnosed but it was my wake up call to change, i dont hate nor dislike my diabetes it is something i have to manage every day of my natural.In no way shape or form will I let it take me way from my family thats why i bucked up my ideas and live alot more of a healthier lifestyle now.(Im still overweight and that will not change for a long time yet but i am working towards it)
So yes I would much rather not have diabetes but now I have i see it as a good thing.

IMHO