GMA this morning

Did anybody see the segment this am on 5 things to cut the risk of diabetes?

  1. they never mentioned the words type 1 or type 2, so anybody watching who doesn’t know the difference got to choose.
  2. It seems within hours GMA got so many emails and complaints that they changed the title of the online companion piece.
    3.If you haven’t read the piece or seen the video. Please do so and then add more comments to the GMA blog. Maybe someone will get how frustrated Type 1’s can get when the media disseminates misleading information.

Online companion article and comment blog:
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Parenting/comments?type=story&id=5337605

Video clip of segment
http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=5338993

Thanks for posting this, Kimball. I added my own rant to the comments section. Enjoyed reading some familiar names’ posts as well. (Go get 'em, tudiabetes.)

It’s misleading information like this that makes doctors assume all adults have type2 diabetes! It’s the reason I was misdiagnosed as type2 in my 30’s. Even though I followed all the preventative “guide lines” I still could not fend off Type1…The possibility of being a T1 was never considered by my PCP. What do we need to do to educate the medical community?

I also hate when I hear someone “suffers” from diabetes. Currently, I’m not suffering, but living with it. To me, suffering is pain. The media just drives me bonkers.

Thanks for posting this

I am very glad that so many people complained to GMA about their reporting on Type 2 diabetes, but using the umbrella term “diabetes” instead of being factually correct. I read the various comments from people, and even the Type 1’s presented some misinformation about Type 1. Type 1 includes ALL autoimmune diabetes, including adults diagnosed with Type 1 (sadly, too often misdiagnosed as Type 2 due strictly to age not etiology), and Type 1 diabetes represents about 15 to 25% of all diabetes. We are more common than typically portrayed!

Thank you to all that complained to GMA!

I complained. I didn’t have anything to add that hadn’t already been said, but it made me feel a wee bit better. I hope they’ll air a clarification, and even a segment on type 1, but if nothing else, I hope they’ll be a little more specific and correct next time they even mention “diabetes”.

My two ‘favorite’ quotes:
(1) “the diabetes” – as if it’s ONE thing
(2) “you CAN prevent diabetes”

Beautiful. What can we expect people if this is the information they get about diabetes?!?!

I love that one way to PREVENT diabetes is to lose 2 inches around your waist. I lost two inches around my waist on MY WAY towards diabetes and DKA :wink:

I tried to comment twice. I got a message that the site was too busy. I hope that means too many people were writing similar comments :slight_smile:

I’m SOOOO frustrated right now.

This is just so ridiculous I can’t even believe it!! Living in Italy where type 1 diabetes is incredibly hidden and everyone assumes I have type 2 (I am constantly told about how much I must be suffering having diabetes at such an early age - only to be followed by everyone’s advice on what I should eat and how I shouldn’t work), I had kind of hoped (and thought) that the U.S. would be a little more enlightened in their thinking. Apparently I’m just a wishful thinker…

I also sent a complaint letter through their ‘contact us’ page. I was limited to 500 words, but I think I clearly expressed the problem, and my hope that there will be an apology/clarification, and an accurate segment about type 1.

I also sent an email to the Dr. in the segment. I posted my response. Which turns out to be a stock response her assistant sent out to a number of people that complained. If you read it you will probably come away with the same thoughts I did…sort of sounds like Charlie Brown’s teacher…wa wa wawaaa. It said absolutley nothing and really just confirmed that she hasn’t a clue.

Where did you post it?

this was my post on GMA yesterday:

There are four types of diabetes. Type 1, Type 2, Gestational, and Other. Before a segment needs to be shown to millions of viewers about ONE type of diabetes, talking about all of these types must be done. Otherwise a great disservice is being done to people who have one the listed Types. As an “Other”, my diabetes was not caused because of lack of exercise or diet (similar to a Type 2), yet it is also not caused by autoimmune issues (Type 1), nor was i pregnant (Gestational), but was due to a bile duct obstruction and subsequent pancreatitis and gall bladder removal (Other). My treatment is the same as a Type 1 diabetic, but the misinformation that was furthered by your program makes it more difficult in my trying to teach people about my disease. please inform yourselves before you inform viewers of your programs.

Posted by:
landileigh2 Jul-9

It’s about page 3 on July 9th. My log on name is zurgswife. It’s about the ninth post down my page 3.

I sent an e-mail bringing this item and the ensuing controversy to the attention of David Lazarus, Health and Consumer reporter for the L.A. Times. He was recently diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes.

I asked him to help in education people about the differences between T1 and T2 and referred him to some of the threads at tuDiabetes which discuss the GMA story, “But you don’t look like a diabetic” and the like.

He may call on some of you.

Landileigh’s point is a good one.

But there are many more than 4 kinds of diabetes. The more genetic study they do the more they identify unrelated genes that are implicated in so-called Type 2, and then there are different SNPs in each gene each of which causes a slightly different manifestation of blood sugar dysfunction.

“Type 2 Diabetes” is a garbage can diagnosis that covers probably hundreds of different disorders. It’s as if they had a disease, “Cough” and threw in everything from emphysema, to lung cancer, to TB, to flu.

And many of the conditions called “type 2 diabetes” can’t be prevented with trivial lifestyle changes. I am SO sick of hearing that because it is SO not true. It is nothing more than a folk belief. And the studies that are used to support the idea that lifestyle interventions prevent diabetes when carefully examined do not show that at all.

All they show is that meds, or exercise, or diet can lower (slightly) the blood sugar of people who are developing diabetes for a few years, so that instead of being diabetic (2 hour glucose tolerance test value of 200 mg/dl) they are “pre-diabetic” (2 hour glucose tolerance test value of 190 mg/dl). Every diabetes prevention study I have seen plays that trick.

Infuriating. And I say this as someone who does not have Type 2! So it isn’t a personal thing of mine!

Thank you Kimball.

I sent an email to the Today Show and asked THEM to do a story on Type 1.

Good move Christine.