Has anyone seen her in the JDRF public service announcement? I thought it was odd, since she cured herself of type 1 diabetes. Whatever Halle! I don’t get it.
This is what she says: “Hi I’m Halle Berry and as a new mom I can tell you childhood is a magical time. But for children with diabetes life isn’t quite so carefree. These kids are reaching for the brass ring - a cure for the epidemic that effects 23 million Americans. The Barbara Davis centre for Childhood Diabetes is fighting hard to find a cure. Know the signs irritability, excessive urination and weight loss. If you have any of these signs please call your doctor - early detection can save lives.”
Finally she talks about it. She doesn’t mention that she has it (which I think would be nice), but she does talk about it.
Mike - I’ve heard the same thing that Halle Berry has not got diabetes anymore - but have yet to find anything that proves that - are you sure she’s been cured? I thought she was a Type 1 diabetic - which usually means - independent on insulin for life - but maybe I’m out of the loop here! All I know is - I had all those same signs she mentions above - my poor Mum couldn’t keep up with me as I ran away from her alot of times - with my shorts hanging around mid-thighs - I lost weight and I didn’t need to!!! Not fun at all - I vaguely remember wanting to eat and eat and eat - and my parents were very strict with the food - we only had 3 meals a day - no snacks - they were considered a luxury I guess - so we just had enough. I took up the horrible thing of going to a few of friends houses - doors left unlocked of course - and climbing onto kitchen counters to raid their cupboards (of course they weren’t home). I always wonder if anyone ever caught on to my thievery of their food (Canadian food was different from what my British family ate - no junk food, etc). I sort of feel ashamed writing about this - but it just dawned on me now - that’s when I was still not diagnosed with diabetes! Yikes - flash back memories like this - scary!!!
How can she not have it anymore, I think we have it pretty much forever. Sure we can control it but have it go away…I’d love it!! Hang in there! August
If she doesn’t need insulin, then her diagnosis IS NOT diabetes type 1.
(OK, some people with T1 don’t need insulin during honey moon, but she’s not in a honey moon.)
Well it would make sense to me that she was misdiagnosed for years. . She wore a pump and rarely mentioned diabetes that I am aware of. Then she come out and says that she weaned herself off of insulin and is now a Type 2. Never said cured of diabetes. I don’t think (my choice of words were wrong). I don’t know. To me, it is very dangerous of her to say. Many people consider her a role model. Hopefully her fans are not Type 1 and decide to wean themselves off of insulin.
I am a fan of her, and glad that she is doing a PSA. But Halle dear, please say the correct things when talking about your own diabetes. A lot of people are listening to you.
I have always had a problem with JDRF messaging. The cure that JDRF is seeking is for Type 1 diabetes, so it’s a distortion (misleading) to say that it is a cure for 23 million diabetic Americans that they are seeking.
Lydia,
Good link. I have read in the past that she was a type 1 and had an insulin pump. But, in all fairness, maybe I ASSUMED she was a type 1 because of the insulin pump. Before I got a pump three months ago I did not know that type 2’s had pumps. I have learned so much. There has been talk here though on how she cured her diabetes, and now that I read the article that you posted, I can see why. I am pretty positive that I have read that she was type 1. Ah, the plot thickens.
There is also idiopathic Type 1 diabetes, often called Type 1B. Here’s the definition from the Children with Diabetes website: “Some forms of Type 1 diabetes have no known etiologies. Some of these patients have permanent insulin deficiency and are prone to ketoacidosis but have no evidence of autoimmunity. Although only a minority of patients with Type 1 diabetes fall into this category, of those who do, most are of African, Hispanic, or Asian origin. Individuals with this form of diabetes suffer from episodic ketoacidosis and exhibit varying degrees of insulin deficiency between episodes. This form of diabetes is strongly inherited, lacks immunological evidence for beta cell autoimmunity, and is not HLA associated. An absolute requirement for insulin replacement therapy in affected patients may come and go.” This may be what Halle Berry has, but I am only speculating.
But Halle Berry specifically said 23 million Americans with diabetes, not 23 million worldwide. JDRF wants to inflate the numbers.
Then, Type 1 diabetes actually constitutes a higher percentage of total diabetes cases than the oft-quoted 10%, because people with LADA are included in the stats for Type 2 diabetes (despite the fact that they have adult-onset Type 1 autoimmune diabetes). According to John Walsh (“Pumping Insulin”) and many others, rapid onset Type 1 is seen in about 10%, slow onset Type 1 (typically adults) is seen in about 15% (this has been repeatedly demonstrated in scientific studies that use the gold standard antibody testing to distinguish Type 1 diabetes from Type 2), and about 75% have Type 2 diabetes. So it’s more like 20-25% of all diabetes is Type 1.
