52 years old this week - no cure for T1 in site. Bummed.
Raise over $20,000 over 2 years for the Tour de Cure (ADA). Then read this:
"Almost 87% of the 3,867 type 2 diabetes respondents in a huge national sampling knew that obesity contributes to chronic disease; more than 75% were aware that type 2 diabetes was as dangerous to health as type 1 diabetes, and 90% were aware that diabetes is more than just a “sugar” disease, said Andrew Green, MD, director of Midwestern Endocrinology in Oakland Park, Kan.
Only 57.3% of the people at high risk of developing type 2 diabetes who filled out eight-page questionnaires on health and lifestyle practices said they were even “considering” a plan to lose weight. That’s despite only 23.4% of the people surveyed saying they considered their health excellent."
Depressing. I’m switching back to raising money for JDRF.
A guy I ran with for a while on a 10 miler this AM was asking re pump, # of tests, was like “you don’t mind do you?” and explained that a few years ago, he’d gotten a “warning” “your bg is a little high” which is what had gotten him running in the first place. He’s done 5x marathons since then!
I know several people who are at high risk of developing diabetes, including some who already have pre-diabetes, who basically just laugh and go, “Yeah, I should be thinking more about that …” and continue to eat unhealthily and not attempt to lose weight. Even after I tell them that diabetes is NOT something they want to have and that, once they get it, there’s pretty much no going back even if they do lose weight and fix their diet at that point.
I know Type 2 is not always about weight, and I know several skinny Type 2s. I also know that losing weight is not easy (I’m overweight and am on that long road!). But I am always floored when people are told what they can do to help prevent a life-threatening disease and just brush it off as no big deal. But then, I guess it’s not all that different from the people with diabetes who are in denial and don’t test or take their insulin/medication even though not doing so greatly increases their risk of complications.
I wish I knew the best way to help both groups, but I think sometimes something bad (diabetes or complications) just has to happen before it really clicks in for them that it’s real.
As for a cure, I’ve pretty much given up on ever seeing one in my lifetime. I think there will likely be some sort of semi-closed-loop system and maybe even a fully closed-loop system, and maybe some treatments that help prolong the honeymoon period indefinitely in people newly diagnosed with Type 1 and/or LADA type people who have had it longer but still make some insulin. But I doubt we’ll see anything to help those of us diagnosed as kids who have had Type 1 for decades. I was told 20 years ago that a cure was probably 5-10 years away, and today we don’t seem all that much closer than we did in the early '90s.
The issue here is that we all think that all diabetics think the same …and they don’t. I am sorry you think your efforts are futile but they are not. As a insulin dependent Type 2 I thank you for your efforts. One must understand there is a different thinking process between a person that gets diabetics in their formative years and a person like myself that gets diabetes after years of established bad habits and genetics.
In reality nobody cares about their health till they get older and stricken with something. You also have to cognizant that nutrition and other healthy habits are not taught and are not mentored to young and older people. Look at AIDS, that has been hammered into the brain for the past 20 years but people still practice unsafe behaviors. Just be satisfied that you are doing the best you can and there are some people like myself that thank you for it.
Type 2 diabetes experience severe denial of their condition. this is something that is not addressed by the medical community. they know it exists but they don’t don’t do much to help it. Type 2 diabetics don’t know what to do with their condition most of the time. All they know is they have this “thing” in their body and they thats it. This is how I was treated when I was diagnosed. The dangers of diabetes is not impressed on us till something traumatic happens. This is sad but this is what happens.
I long have believed that when a T2 diagnosis is given, physicians should make more of it to give the impression that this thing has to be fought as in battle. T2 need instructional classes and emotional support therapies to achieve goals that must be laid out and followed through. I think such help could be given through interactive computer series, but the goals are often so poorly defined that the large number of T2 across the country never get attached to classes, groups, therapies that are needed. Someday we will have clinical specialists who blanket the country managing these kinds of therapies, the foot doctors of China so-to-speak, who take on the challenge.
I think the issue is that when you’re told you have T2D, you’re not in the immediate danger of dying. In most cases, at the time of diagnosis of T2D, death and complications are still quite a few years away and you don’t always FEEL the effect of high BGs. When you’re diagnosed with T1D, you generally feel horrible (if you’re not already in DKA) and you need insulin to survive IMMEDIATELY. The life/death line is much more immediate and clear with T1D.
I have a friend who is pre-diabetes. She is overweight and really resistant to taking care of herself. She knows what my life is like as someone with T1D and she knows how hard things can be. But she sees T2D as being immensely difference. To some degree, it is, but the long-term ramifications are pretty similar.
That said, it is really frustrating that so many people with T2D do NOTHING to change their behavior. I would give anything to have T2D and be able to survive without insulin. The thought of just having to lose weight and watch my diet (and maybe take a pill) seems so, so beautiful right now compared to the hell of being dependent on insulin, having to count carbs, etc.
Who cares what other people do about their own health? Unless its a good friend or loved one why worry about it? I mean really its their life let them live it as they like. As far as a cure isn’t that around five years or something like that? Seriously screw the JDRF and give your money to Dr Faustman. She’s possibly on to something good. The JDRF gets plenty of money.
I agree with you whole heartedly. I was given a 4th grade food chart and a prescription and told to go home. What am I suppose to do with this??? That is why I started learning for myself.
I am assuming the experience is much different for a Type 1 especially if they are younger when dx’d.
Diabetes is just not sexy enough !..much easier to continue to be pretending it will not happen and it is not there …we as PWD who care , need to keep on educating and sharing our selves .
The problem with Type 1s diagnosed at young ages is that yes, their parents usually get fantastic education and support …
But then when the person with diabetes becomes a young adult they are suddenly expected to take over their own care and transition to an adult system with much less support. Young adults almost need their own form of (re)education, because a lot of them weren’t really educated when diagnosed (their parents were) and have had their parents manage many aspects of their diabetes for many years. Then they’re just expected to know everything and do it all on their own.
No wonder young adulthood is the time when many people with Type 1 have the poorest control! Thinking back, I really had no clue what I was doing in my early 20s.
For example, I had only a vague idea of what ketones were and didn’t really know about DKA until I became interested in gaining better control and read books on diabetes. I had been diagnosed over ten years ago when I was too young to understand everything and have never experienced DKA since diagnosis. I knew my parents made me check for ketones when I was sick and I needed extra insulin if I had them, but I didn’t understand what they were or what they meant. Kind of scary for a Type 1 to not understand. I’ve met many others diagnosed with Type 1 as young children who feel/felt the same way once they became young adults and were on their own.
I think the ones who probably get the best education are those diagnosed with Type 1 as teenagers. They are old enough to understand and be told everything and take over their care right away, yet young enough that they still fall under the pediatric system which provides excellent education and support.
Many Type 2 diabetics have been waging the war with weight for a number of years if not a lifetime. They are repeatedly told that progressing to the use of insulin means failure. The drugs used to treat Type 2, while effective for many, can have debilitating and dangerous side effects. Some of these drugs have “weight gain” as a side effect. Many enthusiastic Type 2’s give up when further weight loss becomes next to impossible. Why is it so difficult for Type 2’s to get insulin?
You obviously have NO idea how hard it is to lose weight and keep it off. Between 95% and 98% of the people who try to lose weight gain it ALL back within two years.
I would LOVE to be able to just count carbs, inject insulin several times a day and be thin. I might be able to go outside of the house without being scowled at and attacked by total strangers.
My introduction to T2 was having my big toe amputated. That got my attention.
I think there are things that could be accomplished short of a cure…my highest priority would be to eliminate a lot of the overprocessed useless stuff people call “food.” Wouldn’t it be great if there was more than the produce section, the meat section, and one aisle in the store that had decent stuff? No, you can’t stop people from eating dessert, and I wouldn’t want to do that, but if they had to make their own a lot of them won’t eat so much of it. I was in Walgreens last week and half the store had been converted to junk food. There were 4 aisles of cookies and crackers and chips. And a single bowl of apples and bananas up by the register. Food manufacturers need to be encouraged to produce decent food.
It’s sad but ture about some of the Type 2’s who don’t take it seriously. My dad, g-father and some of my great uncles didn’t take Type 2 seriously & didn’t watch themselves til it was too late.
Re Peetie and JeanV comments for type 2’s to receive insulin : I do not believe , that this is the general case in Canada … I know of those in my community who went from meds to insulin …there is a shortage of Endo’s …another story .
Nel: I need to preface this by saying that I admire all the good work that you have done on behalf of Canadians. I have read a number of your posts and they have been really informative. Thanks
Here in Ontario there is a shortage of family doctors. One elderly lady even advertised in the newspaper for someone to accept her into his practice. Since I was diagnosed in 2004, I have had 6 different family doctors. They just suddenly relocate. My endo tells me that the treatment for T2’s is drugs first then drugs +insulin. Is this not true?
So sorry Jean. I know you are doing well and have reduced your A1C significantly. Congrats.
I’m sitting here with an A1C of 10.1 so I’m in the desperate/angry stage. I’m really upset about all the pill-pushing. It just drives me nuts!
