Changing the name wont do anything, changing peoples understanding of the different types of diabetes will. This is something that comes up frequently, it’s always down to misunderstandings about what type 2 diabetes is and that misinformation gets recycled over and over again by the media and on message boards like this.
It isn’t rude to be disappointed when other people compare you to overweight people who activated their Type 2 genes through poor diet and inactivity. It isn’t rude to acknowledge that Type 2 and Type 1 have very little in common outside of some management aspects.
It isn’t rude to desire a name that fits the true nature of the illness, instead of a name that merely denotes one of the symptoms, so that public perception might shift to a better understanding of what Type 1 diabetes is.
“It isn’t rude to be disappointed when other people compare you to overweight people who activated their Type 2 genes through poor diet and inactivity”
I would say it’s kind of rude and a little bit ignorant to believe type 2 is a disease for overweight people and is activated by diet and inactivity. Environmental doesn’t just mean diet and activity levels.
It’s also kind of weird to want a name that fits the true nature of the illness when really the true nature of any form of diabetes other than cases that are caused by trauma to the pancreas is not known. There is also a big school of thought that some forms of type 2 are caused by an autoimmune attack on the immune system itself. So, if you really want to change the name of type 1 you may have to look for something that doesn’t use autoimmune.
Interesting. You are saying that all obese people who do not lose weight most likely would progress to a form of Type 2? Hence, all Type 2s blamed for their disease because this is the concensus of the media, caused by diet. I am not yet in the “obese” category, but am in the overweight category, by about 20 pounds. Guess I really must buckle down and get those pounds off. I do know of two cases at work. One woman diagnosed and put immediately on insulin emergently (overweight, not obese). She did not have to check BS very often, maybe three times a day and would usually not have to bolus for meals, just was on Lantus. Only if BS was high would she use Humalog, not sure how much or how she used it, i.e., for meals, or correction? The other was obese, now is normal weight and controls her diet (I consider her diet extremely low carb) and exercises, yet is still progressing towards insulin. Since insulin equals life to a Type 1, I often wondered why Type 2s do not use insulin to control BS sooner, rather than thinking of it as a treatment of last resort.
“I often wondered why Type 2s do not use insulin to control BS sooner, rather than thinking of it as a treatment of last resort.”
Fear is a large part. But another big one is that for a lot of people it wouldn’t really address the problem. If you are insulin resistant and already produce a high amount of insulin, using more insulin is probably not the best starting point, addressing the insulin resistance would be. Kind of like using a sledge hammer to unlock your front door. Sure, it will work but it would be a lot better to use a key.
I just wanted to add, I think there’s even more misinformation and ignorance out there about T2 than there is for T1 - so it’s not like either type really gets away from it.
I know a LOT of T1’s who think that every single T2 out there did it to themselves and caused their disease… it’s a terrible stigma. While there may be lifestyle factors that contribute to the onset of symptoms, I don’t personally believe that they cause the disease itself and never have - there’s something else going on, and I also think that within T2’s, there’s probably a wider range of “types” of T2 than medical professionals currently recognize… yet everyone just gets lumped together.
Agree 100%. I’m sure if you took 1 million type 1’s you could find one or two common things between them and then say “x causes type 1” no matter how stupid it would be.
I didn’t say all people with Type 2 diabetes have the disease due to obesity and poor lifestyle choices. But there is no doubt that the evidence suggests a large portion of the Type 2 population did trigger their disease this way. Type 2 diabetes is not “a disease for overweight people”. It is a disease with a genetic component that can be triggered by obesity. Not all obese people have Type 2 diabetes and not all Type 2 diabetics are overweight or were diagnosed while overweight.
There is no evidence Type 2 diabetes is caused by autoimmune conditions. I don’t know what precisely you mean by “big school of thought”…perhaps you just mean a lot of people would like to think that is true. The autoimmune antibodies seen in Type 1 and 1.5/LADA diabetes are absent in Type 2 diabetics.
Look, the bottom line is that obesity is to Type 2 diabetics what sun exposure is to fair-skinned people with genetic susceptibility to skin cancer. We tell those folks to limit their exposure to the sun and I have yet to hear them say things like:
“Well, dark-skinned people can get skin cancer too, so don’t tell me to stay out of the sun.”
“There is a big school of thought that the sun doesn’t cause skin cancer, so don’t tell me that my dozens of sunburns contributed to causing my skin cancer.”
I’m not rude or ignorant about diabetes. I just don’t think trying to absolve people of bad decisions does them any good with regards to their diagnosis of any kind of diabetes. If you don’t recognize the causes then you cannot effectively treat the disease. I’m not saying you can simply lose weight and Type 2 goes away- I know this is not the case. The metabolic pathways do not seem to switch completely back to a non-diabetic state for most Type 2s even if they lose weight and exercise. But to say that going from obese to non-obese, eating right, and exercising will not make a massive difference in a Type 2 (or Type 1) diabetic’s life is truly ignorant.
I’ve spend a good couple of years trying to find the actual evidence that obesity trigger type 2, I’ve yet to find it. There is a casual link in a number of cases but no one can seem to prove a causal one. It may be that there are some types of type 2 that are triggered by that but no one really knows.
As to the autoimmune part of type 2, I’m not saying it’s the same autoimmune response that causes type 1. I know that those antibodies are not going to be there. However, there are plenty more autoimmune diseases that don’t require the same antibodies as needed for type 1 and plenty more autoimmune antibodies out there. To say that because the same ones that are there for type 1 aren’t there for type 2 then there is no possible way type 2 could be autoimmune is crazy. Maybe an autoimmune attack on the autoimmune system is the wrong wording, a disease of the autoimmune system might be a better way of describing it. Check out stuff on the innate immune system and type 2.
I don’t know about skin cancer so I can’t comment on that. No idea if the sun exposure causing skin cancer is proven or not. All I know is just because two things happen at the same time doesn’t mean one caused the other. Simple answer is we know next to nothing about diabetes in general. With type 1 we know how but not why. With type 2 we don’t know why or how.
haha, but isn’t T1 a type of AIDS? I mean, it IS an Auto Immune Difficiency Syndrome… 
Hmmm… amputated knee caps… nope not looking for that on my agenda this lifetime!
Don’t worry. I agree with your ideas and philosophy. I know many T2s and it IS a bit annoying when they say “I have to watch my sugar” but then proceed to eat whatever they want when they want, and then just WAIT for their BG to come down on its own. All the while, there I am, salivating on a piece of white bread that I can’t touch unless I want to inject myself with medication. It’s not fair and it’s not the SAME.
I know there are exceptions to this rule. I know there are T2s out there who feel the same way that we do- that they are not overweight or old or irresponsible, but yet still have some functioning insulin producing cells. In some cases, I’d think that would be harder than T1. If they have insulin producing cells that work only SOMETIMES, then how do they figure out when to take insulin and when not to? That seems tough too. While there are times that all they have to do is jog around the house a few times to get their BG down and T1s have to inject no matter what, it’s still a give and take.
Yes, I do not want to be placed in the same category as the T2s who ate themeselves sick. Nor do I want to state that I’m diabetic, and have people look at me cross-eyed because I’m not yet 25 years old. But, on that note, I also don’t want to be called a “juvenile diabetic” because I did not get diagnosed until teenage years. It’s complicated.
Yes, I hate that the commercials on TV are toward T2s instead of T1s. Yes, I hate that when people talk about Diabetes in TV shows and news programs, they’re 90% of the time referring to T2. Where’s the love? But, at the same time, that’s the price we pay for being original- we’re only 10% of the 2 million people (in USA) who have D, amongst the billions of people in the US ALONE. We are such a unique group of people (you like that phrasing?) that we aren’t yet offered special treatment.
I can deal.
Just come up with a cure, and we’ll not have to worry about this anymore.
What I am saying is that it is known that certain fat tissues produce hormones that interfere with insulin utilization, leading to clinical insulin resistance. If this is caught and corrected early – before systemic damage is done – then it is possible that a person will not progress to one form of Type 2 diabetes.
There are cases where the converse is true: a genetic tendency towards insulin resistance is activated, causing the body to create more insulin, which is not effectively used to remove glucose from the bloodstream – but which does have the side effect of causing weight gain.
The issue here is that there are a number of different medical causes of what we call “Type 2 Diabetes”, and these different (and medically-undifferentiated) causes are the source for much of the public’s misinformation about all forms of persistent hyperglycemia. In many cases, these are best managed through intensive lifestyle management (aka “diet and exercise”) and the appropriate pharmaceuticals. As long as sufficient pancreatic function remains and the insulin produced is not malformed, exogenous insulin should not be necessary. The deterioration of pancreatic function in Type 2 is exacerbated by poor management. Many Type 2s are managed by their primary care physicians (neither me, nor my mother, nor my Other Half, nor his father, nor his mother’s sister, nor his cousins have endocrinologists for our Type 2 diabetes). In the end, much management of Type 2 has to be patient-initiated and patient-managed. Without sufficient information, and without sufficient monetary resources (for testing, extra doctor visits, dietary changes, etc.), Type 2 tends to be undermanaged and progressive rather than arrested or its progression slowed.
It is my belief that many type 2 would be better off on insulin sooner than later. Once your pancreas dies and you are insulin resistant the disease becomes your worst nightmare.
Weight gain could be a valid reason to withhold insulin. And of course an effective drug against insulin resistance would be nice if it existed. A few patients have smashing success with metformin and some with avandia. In my case metformin really makes me sick and avandia does nothing.
The main cause of insulin resistance is cortisol but there may be other causes. In a minimal food situation insulin resistance may have been a real lifesaver for our ancestors in America it is a death sentence. Migratory birds become insulin resistant to survive the long haul.
The only thing I have found to be effective to reduce insulin resistance is a lot of crueling exercse and a very low carb diet. Eating a bit less than you need in a day makes the situation immediately better and this even without the loss of any tummy grease. You wonder if a day of fasting now and then would be good for those who can.
With regards to autoimmunity, if there are no insulin antibodies, and no antibodies that signal an autoimmune reaction against the beta cells themselves then it isn’t “crazy” to suggest that autoimmunity is an unlikely culprit in the development of Type 2 diabetes. Furthermore, the evidence strongly points to an exhaustion (leading to permanent disability in many cases) of the beta cells. This is why, for example, hypoglycemia is a common symptom in those with Type 2 diabetes. The beta cells have to work overtime producing enough insulin to cover the body’s needs and frequently will overshoot, causing rebound low blood sugar. In any event, if you want to claim autoimmunity is involved then produce the evidence- antibodies. Without evidence, there really is no point in debating the issue.
You are correct in stating correlation does not prove causation. However, correlations are indicators that a causal link may exist. There are many links between insulin resistance and obesity. Fat tissue produces chemicals that are directly responsible for insulin resistance- a hallmark of Type 2 diabetes. Another strong correlation is the concurrent rise of Type 2 diabetes with obesity in the general population. It is not as if research moves from knowing nothing about causal links to knowing everything there is to know in one step.
Virtually everyone accepts that there are genes that contribute to Type 2 diabetes, even though there is no genetic test that can determine if someone is going to get the disease or not. But when it comes to obesity, I see a lot of comments like yours, which suggest people are rude or ignorant for pointing out the large body of evidence that links obesity and Type 2 diabetes. I suspect this is because no one can be held responsible for their genes, but most people can be held responsible for being obese.
No one is saying that we know all there is to know about all the kinds of diabetes, but you are suggesting we don’t know anything and this is certainly not the case. If you are obese, you are at a much higher risk of Type 2 diabetes and if you are obese and have any kind of diabetes you are at higher risk for serious complications. I’ve been overweight in my life and so I don’t judge anyone for that unless they are unwilling to address that issue and continue to deny it has any serious health implications in general or with regards to diabetes.
deficiency to me means “not enough of”…i’m type one and i make NO insulin. that’s why i orginally said malfunction…insulin malfunction diabetes maybe??
name changes that say precisely what happens or happened to those with diabetes will make it simple and to the point for those who are non-d’s and really don’t want to take the time to take classes or read up on the different types.
What a freeking slap in the face!
This entire thread is disrespectful to me and to other Type 2’s
I come to Tudiabetes to help people and enjoy people’s company. You wont be making my friends list Jenn Bayer!
I am disgusted!
I thought about responding to this thread , or not, all day.
I am glad I don’t have a computer to respond at work ,because I would have been kicked out of TU.
Shame on you Jenn Bayer
I am done
It isn’t Jenn’s fault that many people associate Type 2 diabetes with their fat, old relatives. It isn’t her fault they don’t know what Type 1 or Type 2 is- or that there is any difference at all between them.
She simply desires people to understand the true nature of her disease and treat her accordingly.
You seem to have some anger issues that would be best dealt with elsewhere.
Cool your jets Craig, don’t take things personally.
I got your back Jenn don’t listen to this guy.