Can we change the name? Has anyone tried this? I am so sick of people comparing it to their old, overweight relative that they know who has Type 2 diabetes! It’s a different monster. Sorry…I don’t wanna be in the same category.
My suggestions:
Insulin-deficiency syndrome (IDS)
Auto-immune pancreatic dysfunction (APD)
Beta-cell necrosis
Any suggestions?
i kind of agree with you about type 1’s needing a different name.
but i think it might not help since the name has been changed many times
and people are still not educated.
it’s definitely worth a shot tho 
I hope this comes out the right way … but I have type 2 diabetes (one of my daughters has type 1 and another daughter has been battling kidney disease since age 3 because she has MODY).
It is really hard for those of use with type 2, too. We are told we did this to ourselves; it is our fault. We are fat, lazy, and it was our choices that made us sick. But this is not true. I had PCOS before onset of type 2, which may have contributed to my getting the disease, I was 112 pounds (at 5’5") when prediabetes first hit me as a teenager.
I have been diabetic for 29 years now and it sucks just like having type 1. Insulin is insulin. Complications are complications. Discrimination is discrimination. We suffer the same fate even if how we arrived at the disease is different.
I am all for combating the ignorance of others who do not understand the difference between the many types of diabetes (one of my girls has MODY - talk about no one understanding what that is!). But I see all people with diabetes as my brothers and sisters. Maybe for different reasons, and my diabetes has a 2 instead of a 1, but I walk the same path you do each day.
I don’t think anyone living with diabetes should have to change to accommodate ignorant or rude people. We could just as easily change the name of type 2 to distinguish us (instead of changing type 1). But people would still blame me for my disease. That’s an attitude I hope we can change someday.
I like APD… and I’m completely with you… we as T1’s are the minority in the D community and it’s frustrating to constantly be explaining the differences between T1 and T2… I feel like we just get lumped in with “everyone else” when we really don’t have much in common, and as a result our disease doesn’t get the recognition it really deserves… and most of that is because of ignorance.
I have heard this before, LOL. I have been thinking, though, that Type 1s are a minority. More clout politically with so many Type 2s backing us up. Even if Type 2s do not understand completely, they tend to have more sympathy for our children and I have found they have some interest, whereas many in the general population are completely uneducated and really don’t want to hear the details, want to hear there is some quick fix. The ADA has helped diabetic children with discrimination issues at school. So I would like the ADA behind our kids. I also find (and my niece has only had Type 1 for four years now) that I really DON’T want her after school activities curtailed, or parents who may have her over for a short play date, to know everything. I tell them she has diabetes, it is well controlled and she is able to take care of it. I do explain she may need juice or glucose tabs for a low. Else they may feel it is too risky for her to participate and most of the after school classes are just an hour or two. I don’t want her discriminated against so we now underplay D. She can manage most of her care herself, with us on the cell phone. P.S. Not all Type 2s are overweight, there is a strong genetic component. The insulin resistance caused by Type 2 can be responsible for weight gain. I have some heavy relatives but there is no Type 2 in our family.
Diabetes Gold. Courtesy of “In the Loop” writer Armando Iannucci from his little known UK radio show “Facts and Fancies”. Always makes me laugh!!
i think we should call it “the suck” no matter what type. Suck just pretty much sums up diabetes for me
I usually refer to T1 as “autoimmune diabetes”. By this, LADA is also “autoimmune diabetes”. “T2” is sometimes “insulin resistant diabetes”, sometimes it’s “lipokine-initiated glucose metabolism disorder”, sometimes it’s related to digestive sensitivities to specific foodstuffs.
Lipokine-initiated glucose metabolism disorders are associated with (and may be caused by) obesity; other types of T2 have a genetic component which may or may not be associated with obesity. (Note that “associated with” and “caused by” are two different things.)
THANK YOU for stating this so well: “(Note that “associated with” and “caused by” are two different things.)”
This is important, because as Jan (also, thank you) correctly points out:
“P.S. Not all Type 2s are overweight, there is a strong genetic component. The insulin resistance caused by Type 2 can be responsible for weight gain. I have some heavy relatives but there is no Type 2 in our family.”
I did gain an enormous amount of weight AFTER I became type 2 - not before. I am talking 150 lbs in two years for reasons I could not understand. I went on glucophage, adopted ketogenic low carb lifestyle and that was the only way I could take it off. To this day I cannot eat “normally” without gaining weight very, very fast. In my case, I was thin. Got diabetes. Got really fat and had to lose weight through extreme measures.
i think all types of diabetes should have their own names. i don’t think anyone wants the word Di in a disease name. stupid latin.
“The type of diabetes that isn’t your fault” 
I second that! Domo!
It sounds too much like people with type 1 are trying to blame those of us with type 2 for our own disease. Even among people with diabetes I feel like a misfit now!
But I do like the “no di” in the name comment!
I am going to resist commenting more because this really is a type 1 rant. But I am truly sad to see some comments here that show even people with diabetes (1) think we did this to ourselves. If our own insulin dependent family does not get it how can we except the general public?
I did not, did not cause my diabetes.
Have a blessed day,
Lahle
check out this thread!!..
http://tudiabetes.com/forum/topics/reframing-diabetes
the name i thought of…
Autoimmune Insulin Malfunction Diabetes…AIMD
i think insulin deficency sydrome could possibly be anyone and pancreatic dysfunction bothers me because the pancreas does more than just produce insulin. it just makes it sound like the pancreas is dead completely.
The original post is rude. There are plenty of ways to suggest a name change that don’t involve a slap against Type 2’s.
I agree…Type 1 or Type 2 or Type 1.5 ETC. We are all in this horrible disease together…making a difference between us is like saying one persons cancer is less evil then anothers!!
That’s why I think each type should have a name that explains it in one phrase. So people don’t get offended when non-d’s hear “diabetes”. Not having specific names is like getting rid of the types of cancer and just saying everyone who has cancer has cancer, that’s it, no explanation. I think all types of diabetes suck. There’s no doubt in my mind about that but what’s wrong with having more suited wording so the general public understands us all right off the bat? We wouldn’t be having this discussion if we did. 
Small correction here but Diabetes didn’t come from Latin. Like most medical terms it’s a Greek word.
Therefore, stupid Greek!
Don’t worry I can say that because I am Greek
The key here is misinformation and ignorance. If there is one thing I have gained from this place is a more proper education on Diabetes. I say this because up until I joined this community I knew so little about type 2 that as far as I was concerned you didn’t deserve the privilege of calling yourselves diabetics. When explaining my condition to others who only knew about type 2 I would say things like “first of all those fakers aren’t even diabetic. If you can control it with diet and exercise you’re not in the same boat with me.”
I too thought of type 2 as a self-inflicted wound that was easy to manage and didn’t deserve any real recognition. Now I know better and I have this community to thank for that.
Having said that, however, there is a great number of people with type 2 who are indeed in a very different category from the rest of us and quite frankly do give us not-by-choice diabetics a bad name. Like all coins this too has two sides.
As for a name change I utterly disagree. With the worldwide ignorance about diabetes the last thing we need is to throw out the word that gives us some recognition and support. Today it’s not that hard to find a sponsor for a “Walk for Diabetes” fundraiser, but imagine trying to do the same for “Walk for IDS” or “Walk for APD”. Unfortunately I think the burden of educating the world must continue to fall on our shoulders (by world I mean everyone including diabetics, and by shoulders I also mean everyone including diabetics).
I know how easy it can be to get pissed over such matters, but let’s not start ■■■■■■■ on each other.
Please excuse the language.