This week is National Diabetes Week in Australia. But for me, every week for the last 18 years has been diabetes week. This is how long I have lived with diabetes.
Most people know someone with diabetes and considering that there are 1.2 million people in Australia diagnosed with the condition, that’s not a surprise. (There are another 500,000 with type 2 diabetes who don’t even know they have it!) However, despite being very common (or maybe because it is common), there is still a lot of misinformation about diabetes. As someone who deals with it every day, it can get a little bit annoying at times. And by ‘little bit annoying’, I mean it makes me swear like a trucker.
I have type 1 diabetes which is an autoimmune condition. In type 1, my immune system decided – for some unknown reason – to attack the insulin producing cells in my body so now, I have to act like a pancreas and do it manually. That wouldn’t be a problem if insulin was a set-and-forget drug. But doses vary according to pretty much every factor you can imagine: food, exercise, stress, hormones, adrenalin, being sad because the heel on my favourite boots just broke, eating too many carbs, eating not enough carbs.
Type 2 diabetes, which is by far the most common form of diabetes (about 90% of cases), occurs when the body becomes resistant to insulin. The body may also lose the capacity to produce enough insulin. Type 2 diabetes has strong genetic risk factors. In almost 60per cent of cases, it is preventable.
Top Comments
Contradictions galore. People should not be offensive and ignorant to your condition, or the cause or cure. Agree. However you make very clear distinctions that type 2 diabetes is 60% preventable, which is by lifestyle including diet, right? That is why people make comments about food, right? I think misinformation and victim blaming is bad. Correct info from dr oz may assist type 2 diabetics, or prevent it from progressing from pre diabetes etc. if it doesn't apply to,you why don't you say, my condition is a little different, or ignore dr oz. type 2 impacts more people, costs the health budget more and needs addressing way more than type 1, so maybe that is why the media focus on that. I also saw recent developments for type 1 diabetic children and monitoring. They are not forgotten in the media or research, which is a good thing.
Misleading headline. Type 1 diabetes is not really a genetic condition. There are genetic influences, yes, but actually genes are more important in type 2 diabetes. You are much more likely to get diabetes if your parent was type 1 compared to type 2. Type 1 mothers diagnosed before 25 have. 1/25 chance of passing it on, and type 2 mothers diagnosed before 50 have a 1/7 chance (source http://www.diabetes.org/dia...
That was my first thought when reading the headline as well.
I have been a Type 1 Diabetic since 1982, aged 7. I have 3 kids, 2 of them are now Type 1 as well. I believe Genetics is a major factor!!