Hey everyone,
We ran this guest column on Diabetes News Hound. Check it out:Expert: If Only They Knew The Difference Between Type 1 & 2
I'm curious if people here often have friends and family make incorrect assumptions about their type of diabetes.
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Very few people I meet seem to know the difference between Type 1 and Type 2. If they have any thoughts on the matter at all, it is that “type 1 is children, and type 2 is middle aged overweight people”. Heck, even the medical profession is a bit vague on it all. I had a procedure done recently and told several nurses about my diabetes. I am LADA, but generally just say “type 1”. One nurse asked if I had been diagnosed in childhood and I explained LADA to her which she found interesting. Another one when I said “I am type 1” said, “oh, so you are on oral meds?” Huh???
Yeah, I was in the hospital overnight for a broken leg once, and I told them I need my Lantus. I told them how much I take, and the doctor said that was too much. I argued and said that’s how much I needed, and, anyway, it finally came out they thought I was type 2. I explained I was a type 1, but he said I was an adult and was therefore type 2. It was infuriating. I mean, the guy was a doctor!
Yikes! Aside from the idiocy of thinking you were type 2 because you were an adult…where do they think all those type 1 children go when they grow up…You mentioned another common misconception…that type 2s take less insulin than type 1s, when generally they take more due to resistance.