I would like to encourage people in the Type 1 community to peruse the Diabetes section in Yahoo Answers and offer sound advice.
On occasion I would go to Yahoo Answers to peruse/answer questions about Diabetes in the Health section. I have noticed some disturbing trends.
1) People are actually going to Yahoo Answers for serious indepth questions about their Diabetic care after being recently diagnosed.
2) Most of the questions recently have been from people that were diagnosed as Adult Type 1 (or 1.5) Diabetics.
3) People answer questions with partial information or inaccuate information.
4) There are Lots of questions about Blood Glucose levels.
Anybody can answer a Yahoo Question. I always try to give a well rounded answer and I encourage them to come to the the Tudiabetes Type 1 forum to ask real TYPE 1 diabetics. Being a Type 2, I find this so scary that people would go to Yahoo Answers for questions about TYPE 1. I don't feel comfortable trying to advice Type 1. So that is why I am writing about it here. You are better experts than me.
I normally tell these people that if they are a Type 1 they should seek out an ENDO asap. I always leave the tudiabetes link so they can ask any more questions to a community of diabetes versus folks people who maybe guessing.
I think this is the least survivors of Diabetes can do with others that are being diagnosed and have been not given the proper information or tools about how to live and manage.
Below is the link to Yahoo Answers Diabetic Section.
Hi Christalyn: I followed the link you gave and actually provided some answers regarding Type 1/LADA. A bit shocking that people would ask those levels of questions on such a forum, and you are correct that some wrong information is being given about Type 1/LADA.
Hi Tom: Unfortunately, ADA is one of the worst sources of information when it comes to Type 1 diabetes/LADA (latent autoimmune diabetes in adults). ADA is a Fountain of Misinformation, and their level of denial is incredible! And JDRF’s focus is research/cure for Type 1, and they really don’t focus on dissemination of diabetes information to laypeople. So I don’t think that a call to ADA or JDRF will do much good.
And yes, people with diabetes anwer questions on YahooAnswers all the time, just as they do here on TuD.
I agree about the ADA, Melitta. Their info about T2 isn’t particularly good either. When I was diagnosed, my in-laws were going to make a donation to the ADA. I screamed NO! From their high carb guidelines with correspondingly high A1cs to their funding from the pharm industry, they’re not our advocates.
I do the same thing on MedHelp. It is a forum I first found when I was misdiagnosed and struggling to figure out what was going on. I found there were only one or two people that checked those boards and regularly gave answers, some of it good, some of it off base. So now I check MedHelp and answer what I can. I found the same thing there: rather than people looking for supplementary information as we do here, there were people who expected somebody on a website to diagnose and advise treatment instead of seeing a doctor! There actually are some threads on that board where there are doctors answering questions, but not for diabetes. They are broken down into Type I and Type 2 threads and the Type 1 thread is called Juvenile Type 1 Diabetes! I advised them this was a dated and misleading title and they discussed it and apparently decided not to change it!
That particular site discourages sharing other urls, as if it is the competition, so I privately message people with tudiabetes.
I don’t feel any of us are obligated to answer questions on these type of boards and I personally only answer the ones I feel I have something to contribute and always advise them to get professional advice. But it is scary to think how many people are looking for answers in places like those and getting so little compared to a site like this.
I’ve got to say this about Type 1 and forgive me but I’ve really gotten upset about this. When I took Type ! I was diagnosed with Juvenile diabetes and after telling ppl this they thought I would “out grow” diabetes but guess what??? I’m 46 years old and hadn’t “out growned” it yet! That is what really upsets me about the word Juvenile! I took it at 10 but my family still refer to me as a Juvenile diabetes!!!
I understand, Doris. I was misdiagnosed Type II because I was 58 so how could I possibly have “Juvenile Diabetes”? But I never thought about what it must be like to have people thinking you were going to “outgrow” it or still calling you someone with Juvenile Diabetes as you became a teenager, a 20-something, a 30-something, etc.
I was so shocked!!! Believe me I don’t claim to be an expert on Type 1 but some of the stuff even I knew was questionable. I am not asking anybody to give super through information but try to lead these poor souls into the proper direction.
I think it is aweful that you have to go to Yahoo Answers for “sound medical advice.”
People, I am not asking anybody to take the world on their shoulders and the Diabetic Ann Landers. I just want to direct these folks toward proper and responsible resources. I want people who are walking in the Diabetic path to be enlighten of their choices. Not everybody is as thrifty to search for good resources and they go to YAHOO ANSWERS.
When I was diagnosed all I was give was a food chart and told to come back every month for my prescription refill and this is with Type 2. One story I read in Yahoo Answers the poor guy wasn’t even told if he was Type 1 or Type 2 and was given a bunch of insulin to bring his sugar down some. Then he was given some humanlog and sent home. How aweful.
Between work and feeding the kids…gander a look at yahoo answers and think replying to the more serious questions.
When I answer a question I always tell them to seek an Endocrinlogist or look for a diabetic clinic in their city. I also tell them its their responsibity to educate themselves on their disease. I actually have a prepared statement for this because this was the advice I was giving out most often.
what is the link to Medhelp? I can go there to and lend a hand.
thanks!
I’m grateful you raised this topic. I wasn’t given much info either, other than some confusing & contradictory hand-outs. The day I was being discharged from the hospital, I had to flag down a nurse to show me how to inject. When I asked questions, I was told not to worry. The diabetes ed classes I attended were a joke.
I researched on my own & fortunately found TuD, where I learned more than from my doctors. It’s tragic how little people are educated on a disease that’s all about self-management.
Wonderful for anyone to help disseminate good info to our sisters & brothers.
Zoe I still get that in my mid 40’s! Now I’ve kinda come to the point to where I laugh at those ppl to their faces but burn up in my mind! I’m so sorry that you were misdiagnosed. You want to hear one better? I was told one time I couldn’t be a Juvenile b/c I was over being a kid! The problem with ppl like this is that even though we took it as kids WE NEVER OUTGROW IT!
I have an account in there, and sometimes answer some questions… And today I found someone giving an answer that they themselves had Type 1, and that their grandmother had Type 2 for 30 years, and did what her doctor said, and got cured! It’s amazing the level of misinformation out there! Even from our OWN kind. Insane.
Gleaning information from whereever is ok but taking it seriously is an individual decision. I’ve at times have visited Yahoo not looking for answers but to share experiences. Although I would give some thought to any information I’ve read on computer or hard copy elsewhere. I would seriously give it some thought before incorporating it into my regime.
I went to yahoo answers but could not find a diabetes forum. Have never used it though I apparently joined at some point. I also did a search on ‘diabetes forum’ but nothing relevant came. Anyone have a url? tx.
