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Diabetes in the media

Do you think diabetes is accurately portrayed in the media?

  • Yes

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • No

    Votes: 68 100.0%
  • Total voters
    68
PaulinaB said:
That's actually just like diabetic :)
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Cancer is also similar in the respect of the treatment which in some cases can lower the immune system leaving the patient open to all manor of infection...?
 
My feeling with regards to the tabloid media is that the recent diabetes coverage is not dissimilar to its approach in the 80's with AIDS & HIV.
Using buzz words like "skurge" & generally insinuating it is our own fault... If you look at the general mindset of a journalist that's been turning this stuff out for the past 30 years. If your fat and gay? You got no chance....
 
Squire Fulwood said:
OP asks about the media but since they colour our perceptions then it is within bounds to mention some misconceptions.

So we could have a round of General Ignorance as in QI with Stephen Fry.

Q. What should I buy a diabetic for Christmas?

A. Anything you wish to.

Q. Why is a diabetic choosey about the food they eat.

A. They are just fussy eaters and will get over it.

Q. What do you do if you find someone passed out and smelling of peardrops.

A. Whatever you do don’t call an ambulance, just stuff a Mars bar into .........anywhere convenient
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Q What do you do if you find someone passed out and smelling of peardrops. A Whatever you do don’t call an ambulance, just stuff a Mars bar into .........anywhere convenient[/QUOTE] Is completely wrong. It's quite simple. CALL AN AMBULANCE (DIAL 999) you might just save them from any unnecessary discomfort. If the person is a diabetic, and is conscious enough to tell you he/she is, try listening to them. they may be able to tell you what to do to bring them back to normal. As for diabetics being fussy eaters. There are no more fussy eaters in the diabetic community than there are among the non-diabetic, they just tend to have been educated as to what they should and shouldn't eat.
 
ITV Thursday... The diabetes epidemic....7.30pm..

Lets see whats on this 'tonight' report...


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But a good opportunity to correct nhs advice... See new thread I started.. As a type 1 I can't really get involved.. But there is huge scooe here to lobby for a follow up programmme for success stories...


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Mrs Vimes said:
Oh my God. It will all be 'own fault' and 'lifestyle choice'.


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This is never a popular opinion but one I've expressed many times before. Lifestyle choice is a huge factor in T2 diabetes. Not every case obviously but the parallel between the rise of T2, obesity and urbanization is undeniable. In that respect the media can sometimes be accurate BUT to me there is a complete lack of balance in the media coverage of the other causes and far too much sensationalism..........although, if you want to avoid that then don't read certain newspapers!
 
Scardoc said:
This is never a popular opinion but one I've expressed many times before. Lifestyle choice is a huge factor in T2 diabetes. Not every case obviously but the parallel between the rise of T2, obesity and urbanization is undeniable. In that respect the media can sometimes be accurate BUT to me there is a complete lack of balance in the media coverage of the other causes and far too much sensationalism..........although, if you want to avoid that then don't read certain newspapers!
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Hi scardoc, I'm a type 1 from a family of type 2s on my dad's side. (7 out of 11 siblings diagnosed with type 2, their mum type 2 and her mum type 1 who died because they hadn't discovered insulin. Also 3 cousins with type 1)

None of the type 2s were obese. My dad had a 32inch waist. He was very active, seriously careful about what he ate, followed all NHS advice and ended up on insulin.

I find it annoying that journalists? Constantly harp on about lazy, fat diabetics - lazy journalism and you are right lack of balance. I can't remember where I got this from but I'm sure I've seen that weight gain is a symptom of diabetes and not a cause due to insulin resistance that increases with age anyway. Though weight loss does decrease insulin resistance that can stop / slow down the progression to type 2.

And yes, Deffo avoid certain papers like the daily fail.



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I think that people without diabetes or who don't no anyone with diabetes watch the film or TV show and don't think anything of a character having diabetes ,it's just a disease that character has and they don't consider it being a incorrect representation.Before I had diabetes I thought nothing of it if a diabetic was ever in a program or film ect.
I do think diabetes awareness is important but i know very little about other diseases or conditions people have so I don't think it's just diabetes that people see or hear wrong information about.If things were portrayed more accurately maybe there would be less confusion from people without diabetes ect.
:)




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My dad developed T2.. A perpetually slim guy who officially retired from work 3 times pretty much working up until he developed dementia in his late 70's.
He could have passed off as a guy 15 years younger, having jacked in the fags 30 years previous & went tea total 10 years after that.
Life just has a strange way of dealing it out..!

On a positive side with media. Who remembers this 80's "Shlock" classic...

warlock_the_armageddon2.jpg
 
[QUOTE="Mrs Vimes, post: 557822]I can't remember where I got this from but I'm sure I've seen that weight gain is a symptom of diabetes and not a cause due to insulin resistance that increases with age anyway. [/QUOTE]

I read the same thing, I think it was Dr Bernstein, but I might be wrong.
 
Don't shoot the messenger! I had an interesting conversation with my consultant about T2 and there is some evidence that it some cases could be hereditary. Also there is a new line to thinking that some conditions like hypoglycaemic diseases are liver disorders rather than pancreatic.
I don't know the science. Just something we were discussing! There is always a new theory going around!
 
nosher8355 said:
Don't shoot the messenger! I had an interesting conversation with my consultant about T2 and there is some evidence that it some cases could be hereditary. Also there is a new line to thinking that some conditions like hypoglycaemic diseases are liver disorders rather than pancreatic.
I don't know the science. Just something we were discussing! There is always a new theory going around!
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Hi nosher, from my family experience I know it can be hereditary because of all the skinny type 2s. That us really interesting about the liver disorder as someone who has dawn phenomenon.

Cheers for that. Xx


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Scardoc said:
This is never a popular opinion but one I've expressed many times before. Lifestyle choice is a huge factor in T2 diabetes. Not every case obviously but the parallel between the rise of T2, obesity and urbanization is undeniable. In that respect the media can sometimes be accurate BUT to me there is a complete lack of balance in the media coverage of the other causes and far too much sensationalism..........although, if you want to avoid that then don't read certain newspapers!
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I think we have to be very careful about saying "lifestyle choice". It's a lifestyle choice to avoid the lifestyle that contributes to T2 diabetes risk. But that lifestyle itself is more of a default, not a choice. Just doing what everyone else does would stretch the definition of "making a choice" and also implies more blame than is really warranted. The T2-prone lifestyle is not a "lifestyle choice" than individuals have made. It's more that they could have made a lifestyle choice to not follow the normal lifestyle.
 
The more I learn about my condition, the more I believe that since the sixties and the lunch box became more popular, then you begin to understand why there has been a rise in unhealthy eating alongside the cooking methods used by our parents and grandparents etc.
See, everybody is entitled to have a theory.
It's not the chip butties and hamburgers!
 
I don't believe anyone intentionally brings any condition/disease upon themselves but it's a fact we are much more sedentary nowadays which I think contributes to diabetes and a whole host of other health problems. You only have to go to any school in the morning and see the numbers of children being dropped off by car. As adults we're not helping our kids, we feel guilty if they don't have a laptop or a tablet or similar to entertain them. Obviously there are always exceptions but I'm sure the majority spend hours sat in front of an X Box or similar. I'm guilty too, I bought all my kids a laptop when they were far too young. I then spent many frustrating hours trying to get them off it lol ! I'm sure our diet these days is more convenience too rather than healthy options. My personal opinion though is the sedentary lifestyle is more harmful than the poor diet. No science behind it, just my opinion.
 
The sad fact as well is a lot of type 2s are not diagnosed for a long time because the symptoms are more chronic and can be put down to other stuff. For example tiredness could be put down to stress, 'age', work. So by the time they are diagnosed they can already have complications which is tragic.
Where as type 1 symptoms can be pretty severe very quickly so diagnosis is faster and complications are mostly avoided at that stage.
Then the poor type2 ****** then gets the blame for their complication because they obviously didn't look after themselves when actually it was caused by not knowing they were diabetic.
Then it's easy to use the lifestyle choices argument.

Just saying xx



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