What is your opinion on the media’s inability to differentiate the differences bewteen Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes.
Do you feel as a Type 1 Diabetic there are equal supports in your community, equal allocation of resources.
Are you contantly Explaining the Difference between type 1 and type 2?
For more infor see my post at Three 2 Treat
I’m not quite sure what you are getting at with ‘equal support’ and ‘equal allocation of resources’ since PWDs can have very different needs. How do you draw the line? In fact, you can’t even draw the line in the sand between 1 and 2. All insulin users regardless of type would have similar needs (equipment, being taught how to match insulin to carb etc). Some take orals, others don’t.
In general the media is pretty clueless about ALL sorts of diabetes in any case.
I’ll take the constantly. I’m a Type 1 and ppl always ask about the types. I just do the best I can. I’ve learned so much here about Type 2 and use the phrases here when I talk about them. I think that all types need reconision.
Sigh, even diabetics don’t understand. Type 2 is on the increase but the jury is out as to whether it is caused by obesity or some other reason. I have never been obese, never eaten junk food and discover that diabetes 2 is linked to the type of cancer I had several years ago.
Way too often… and they still don’t get it 
The other day, one of the office ladies thought it was “funny” to see “me, of all people” bringing cookies to school.
She’s been there long enough and should know by now so I didn’t even bother.
Totally agree with Alan. One of the most annoying comments is “he/she claims to be diabetic but I saw them eating chocolate” It is actually known that obesity CAN cause T2, & that is why it is increasing. That’s not to say there aren’t other causes, but obesity IS known to be a cause.
Is it a cause or a contributing factor? I thought there were genetic roots to it that I would expect are not curable? I would explain that both are genetic mutations but they present differently with different pathologies. At that point, i think about 80 or 90% of the people will punt and be like “oh” but anyone interested can have a nice discussion.
I totally disagree with Alan in that I am a beer drinker
Then why are the people on Biggest Loser not diabetics? It is not known whether obesity causes T2 or people become obese whilst they are as yet undiagnosed with T2.
Because not every obese/overweight person WILL develop diabetes. However it is a FACT that obesity is a common cause of T2. Go to any reputable medical website, & it will tell you that a very overweight person is at risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.Also, not being dignosed doesn’t cause a person to become obese.
I had to go to a clinic and tell the doctor how to write my prescription, twice because he never heard of my medication. The nurse had to look it up. The pharmacist questioned me was I suppose to take that much insulin. And thats the medical community!!! Dont even get me started on regular people. There is not as much coverage/ information on type 1 as there is type 2 so people do not understand the difference. I have some luck when I say juvenile diabetes although I then I have to explain why I did not have it as a child…I dont think there will ever be equal amount of information floating out there because there are so many more people with type 2 than type 1.
I worked in Emergency Services before I retired and before I was diagnosed with diabetes. During my years I assisted in treating many type 1 diabetics who had gone hypo and were often unconscious. In the early years it was bad because they didnt have meters and and it was difficult to treat properly.
I always knew the difference but there sure is alot of misperceptions by the public. As a T-2 I educate every chance I get on the differences.
Rye, I completely agree with you!
I don’t think it’s a fact. If you have certain genes, obesity can contribute to or perhaps aggravate the genetic decline towrds diabetes but it’s not a linear relationship.
I think what people are saying is overweight/ obesity is linked to type2 such as high blood pressure or hyper tension. Not everyone however developes it just because they are over weight nor does it mean people who are not over weight cant get it either. My mother who is over 50 has been really over weight for over half her life, her cholesterol is high and she smokes but she is not a diabetic. As a matter of fact she is really healthy. Being over weight, not eating healthy and not exercising could lead to developing type2…Its more than one way to get something in other words.
That’s funny Rye. I once wanted to try Apidra. I had spoken to my PCP about and he said it was fine except he forgot to write the Rx for it. I called his nurse and she had never heard of it. She got quite snippy with me and then continued to ask me what strength it was. I don’t know if she was trying to see if I knew what I was talking about or if she was just that naive but I told her that no rapid acting insulin is made at any other strength than U-100 (at least none that are commercially available). She did not have much to say to me after that…
I don’t run into as much misinformation on T1/T2…but what I do run into are the myths about diabetes. People think once you get “your insulin adjusted” that you should never have a bg out of range. They are surprised when you do and ask “what did YOU do?”, like it is always my fault.
People also think that PWD should suddenly (the moment of dx) be able to overcome the barriers that the rest of society deals with and become super compliant and eat exactly the right foods, in the perfect amounts, embrace physical activity at least 30 min. for 5 times a week, have no issue with monitoring blood glucose levels, take all medication…and be willing to do all of this for the rest of eternity and never complain. Look around…few non-Ds maintain what is considered a healthy lifestyle…but for some odd reason they think we should be able to do it with ease.
So, I often try to explain that it is time we stop blaming the PWD and start blaming the diabetes. It’s a lots cause.
The funny thing I always encountered and missconception was that type 2s were insulin dependant. If you ask a lot of people who dont have diabetes they always tell me that it must be bad that I always have to inject insulin. I think that is a big misconception that all diabetes requires insulin. I dont mind explaining to people because for a year i did not know the difference between type 1 or type 2. The only thing I know is that I needed insulin both humalog and lantus and I never took any pills the first year. So even I did not know the difference between the two at one point.
I have to explain this to people that are DIABETIC!!!
It surprises me to know end how folks just know they are diabetic and they take pills. That is it. I find it even more disturbing when a Type 1 doesn’t have basic knowledge of Type 2 (like taking insulin). I had a person tell me they have the insulin resistance. I had to explain that Type 1 and Type2 can experience insulin resistance.
Wow I am an insulin dependent Type 2 diabetic.
Yes Type 2 diabetics can take insulin and pills if required. The whole point is to bring down the BS levels. I don’t understand why this is such a hard concept to grasp. Please educate yourself…
FWIW, i prefer to say “I have diabetes” to “I am diabetic”.