Media Perception

[Powell2410]

Hi,

Sorry to be a moody sod but I’m getting sick of the videos on YouTube given way too much sympathy to diabetics. I just saw a girl who was diagnosed in America and the fact that they act like it’s life or death just shows me how little people know. I was diagnosed a week before my 2nd birthday (I’m now 30) and have never thought to use this illness as a publicity. I was the 2nd person in the uk to be trialled with a pump and I haven’t looked back. I’ve had friends and colleagues ask me about diabetes due to them being diagnosed with type 2 and they keep panicking but as I have always said “diabetes is one of the easiest diseases to control but if you don’t control it it will kill you” and I stand by that. I just feel that there are too many people and companies coming out now to support etc that weren’t there 20 years ago when we needed it. I’m sorry I may be being a little harsh but it just feels like the hard work is being done by us.

Adam

 

[Diakat]

Hi @Powell2410 ,
Yes we do the hard, day-to-day work, but I actually like the thought of people knowing a bit more.
I've never needed assistance with a hypo, but if I did I doubt most people would know what to do.
I would like it if people at work stopped commenting on what I should or should not eat.
I would like a bit more understanding of what we do to control it and stop it killing us.

 

[Prem51]

@Powell2410 I get what you are saying, but I think it's great that advances are being made, especially for T1s.
As you say it is diabetes is perhaps easier for T2s to control - if they don't follow standard hcp advice, which unfortunately most will. I don't know that much about T1s, but it seems to me that cgms and pumps have made life for them easier in controlling their bg levels.
I hope that further scientific advances will make life easier for T1s and T2s.
I know the main reason for commercial companies to do research into this is financial returns, but anything that helps us must be for the better.

 

[Robinredbreast]

Hi,

Sorry to be a moody sod but I’m getting sick of the videos on YouTube given way too much sympathy to diabetics. I just saw a girl who was diagnosed in America and the fact that they act like it’s life or death just shows me how little people know. I was diagnosed a week before my 2nd birthday (I’m now 30) and have never thought to use this illness as a publicity. I was the 2nd person in the uk to be trialled with a pump and I haven’t looked back. I’ve had friends and colleagues ask me about diabetes due to them being diagnosed with type 2 and they keep panicking but as I have always said “diabetes is one of the easiest diseases to control but if you don’t control it it will kill you” and I stand by that. I just feel that there are too many people and companies coming out now to support etc that weren’t there 20 years ago when we needed it. I’m sorry I may be being a little harsh but it just feels like the hard work is being done by us.

Adam

Hi Adam, good post. It was a life and death situation decades ago before Insulin was administered. In the past have seen some video's of type 1's who really go way OTT, these were American females. We have to work hard to keep diabetes in check and sometimes we just want to scream or give up, but we need to focus on a living a normal life like everyone else and not let our diabetes rule us, as we are the one's in charge.
Social media plays such a huge part, especially with the younger generation.
ps I am female too

Take care

 

[KK123]

I actually agree with this post. Of course diabetes can make you ill or unwell or kill you BUT when it is under control I do not think I am 'ill' or need to be spoken to with sympathetic tones. I (and many others I am sure) am as fit as a fiddle. The media do have a lot to answer for the way diabetes generally is reported. Everything lumped in together, everybody has somehow 'brought it on themselves, if only they would stop eating cakes'.

 

[KK123]

@Powell2410 I get what you are saying, but I think it's great that advances are being made, especially for T1s.
As you say it is diabetes is perhaps easier for T2s to control - if they don't follow standard hcp advice, which unfortunately most will. I don't know that much about T1s, but it seems to me that cgms and pumps have made life for them easier in controlling their bg levels.
I hope that further scientific advances will make life easier for T1s and T2s.
I know the main reason for commercial companies to do research into this is financial returns, but anything that helps us must be for the better.

Hi Prem, the vast majority of type 1s still do not have cgm's or pumps. What a flipping disgrace.

 

[squeezelouise400]

Hi,

Sorry to be a moody sod but I’m getting sick of the videos on YouTube given way too much sympathy to diabetics. I just saw a girl who was diagnosed in America and the fact that they act like it’s life or death just shows me how little people know. I was diagnosed a week before my 2nd birthday (I’m now 30) and have never thought to use this illness as a publicity. I was the 2nd person in the uk to be trialled with a pump and I haven’t looked back. I’ve had friends and colleagues ask me about diabetes due to them being diagnosed with type 2 and they keep panicking but as I have always said “diabetes is one of the easiest diseases to control but if you don’t control it it will kill you” and I stand by that. I just feel that there are too many people and companies coming out now to support etc that weren’t there 20 years ago when we needed it. I’m sorry I may be being a little harsh but it just feels like the hard work is being done by us.

Adam

I have lived most of my life with T1 diabetes, and I also feel very healthy, with good bg control I am no different than those without it, or this is my attitude to it anyway. I tell people I have a condition which just needs to be constantly managed and I'm prepared for hypos so don't panic because lifes too short and theres worse conditions out there. I don't like to be treated as if I was ill, I think sometimes people don't understand and they just need folks with diabetes to convince them, lifes not so bad.

 

[Circuspony]

It's great that you don't find T1 troubles your life much, but we're not all the same. Last year my sister in law's cousin died in his sleep. Presumably from a hypo but they will never know for certain - he was 32.

T1 has had and continues to have a major impact on my life. I'm grateful that I didn't get it until my 40s