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Another media slam...

zoze_j

Well-Known Member
Messages
163
Location
Lancashire
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Pump
Dislikes
Moths & mushrooms!
People who are ignorant towards diabetes :(
Animal cruelty
People who use their mobile phones whilst driving
Hey guys,

Haven't been around much lately, but I read this article this morning & my blood pressure went up oh-so-slightly to say the least!
Now I know it's pretty obvious from past rants how I feel about the media's blatant rubbish mongering, but this article from BBC is truly fabulous (of course I say that dripping with sarcasm!). Not only is the title misleading, not only do they wait until 3/4 of the way throug the article to mention there is type 1 & 2 (incidently no mention of the others) but then they go on to say that T2 is"the form closely linked to lifestyle". I know that it itself is going to p*** off a lot of the T2 dudes & dudettes here because I have learnt on my time on the forum that SOMETIMES it is for that reason, other times it isn't, and can be as a result of other things (for instance, I spoke to a woman the other day at work who'd called in & she told me she'd developed T2 as a result of getting pancreatitis!). Of course there are so many people who are ignorant of the vast spectrum of diabetes, but surely as news casters, these people should be making an effort to publish truthful and accurate information! Surely by doing that, they could better educate people on the whole about the condition?! Grrarg!
Plus, the WHO "stats" are again misleading, it doesn't specify is those stats relate to the combined number of people with T1, 2, 3 etc diabetes, or one particular category!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-35959554
 
I've yet to see any accurate information published where I live on type 2. They tend to get type 1 correct and explain it is auto immune. When it comes to any other type of diabetes they seem to fail to know what causes any of them. They bang on about lifestyle here as well, so much so that one time my family said to me "don't you have that lifestyle disease". I flipped and told them off. They don't know I have PCOS as I have never told them and quite frankly it isn't their business. I just wished media would tell the whole truth. But then when do they ever do that with anything? I figure it's my job to educate those I come in contact with which sometimes even includes diabetics who don't understand what I'm dealing with.
 
Hi. Sadly I think quite a few T2s will have developed T2 thru excess weight AND a genetic pre-disposition to diabetes. So, being overweight doesn't mean diabetes but if you have the wrong genes then excess weight may result in it. So, in that sense it can be linked to lifestyle but you would be unaware of the risk (I know many will disagree!). Anyone who has had diabetes following pancreatitis is not T2 but Late onset T1 as the pancreas is failing to produce insulin rather than thru insulin resistance. There is great confusion on the definition of T2 which no one agrees on.
 
Agreed @zoze-j, their get out clause in the article would be it's ''closely'' linked to lifestyle so they aren't saying that is the only cause of type 2 (which we know it isn't).

The press rarely get things right and writing about diabetes is no exception
 
Media flash on BBC just this second. Diabetes is now prevelant in 1 in 11 people in the the world, according to WHO figures.
 
there's more than 2 precursors though... I already mentioned a 3rd one... PCOS. A high percentage of ladies with PCOS will get diabetes as it is a hormone condition. As my endo explained once you have one hormonal condition you're prone to more.
 
Mep said:
there's more than 2 precursors though... I already mentioned a 3rd one... PCOS. A high percentage of ladies with PCOS will get diabetes as it is a hormone condition. As my endo explained once you have one hormonal condition you're prone to more.
Click to expand...

I also developed PCOS later on in life, after getting T1 (I was 10 when I got diagnosed). I often wondered if the PCOS is linked to my diabetes in some way? Do you think that it's possible after being diagnosed as T1, being hormone related it's caused the development of the PCOS? I've never asked my diabetes consultant.

Those stats man, just...wow. Seriously. #facepalm

I know I should accept by now that the media are full of ****, but it still ticks me off because I truly believe that if they printed the facts, not manipulated information, the whole world wouldn't need quite as much education from us


Absolutely! But I do know of people who are almost stick thin & have developed T2 (obviously genetic as you mentioned, but not lifestyle related), hence my rant. They group people together in a negative light. I don't appreciate that one bit! The way I see it, others may disagree, is the media saying all kinds of cancer are caused by smoking, rather than mouth/lung cancer (I'm sure there may be others, but just to make my point).
 

It's possible because my endo explained that once one set of hormones is out, it impacts on the rest. I have had a few hormone problems since being diagnosed. He even explained to me that blood pressure and cholesterol is regulated by hormones as well and that is why they like to keep an eye on it with diabetics because we're already dealing with a hormonal condition.
 
Lifestyle may not have caused my condition, but my condition has caused major changes in my lifestyle. It is easy for a diabetic to say 'They' should do better, 'They' should understand etc, but 'They' do not need to, it does not affect them, so They just report it.

No one knows for certain what causes D: I was a smoker, so did that contribute to my downfall? If labelling it as a lifestyle issue for the general public, then maybe it helps reduce all the **** we see marketed as 'healthy foods' and then I go along with it. Something triggered my condition. I have it, and its no good me crying over spilt milk. All i can do is work to try to remove modern bad practices where i can. Changing the lifestyle label is not on my agenda. I don't give a tuppeny whatsit about this label. I wait for the scientists to identify the real causes of T2D.
 
1 in 11 people across the world. I had a look at the graphs in that article. These are not only people exposed to a western diet. These include people living in third world situations. Something more than quantity of food is going on here, and it appears to be being ignored by research. I suspect the quality of food or some tweaked food staple is the problem, and its not being talked about.
 

It sells the papers, makes us log on or switch on. Everyday occurrences, 'man saves cat from up a tree and gives it back to the old lady' probably isn't going to be worth a look. It's always been the same, sensationalize it
 
Robinredbreast said:
It sells the papers, makes us log on or switch on. Everyday occurrences, 'man saves cat from up a tree and gives it back to the old lady' probably isn't going to be worth a look. It's always been the same, sensationalize it
Click to expand...

Haha, maybe animal nuts like me would love to read about the old lady getting reunited with her feline...but I totally get your point, it's not everyone's cup of tea! (though that does sound like an article my local paper would print - I live in a VERY small area, latest news grabbing headline was about a pickup being stolen from a farm...you get the idea!)
 

That's what I love about this forum, you always learn something new!
 
Interestingly, Professor Roy Taylor's research (linked to the Newcastle diet) shown at the DPC conference suggests that the thing that tips those who are genetically predisposed to T2 over the edge is a "Personal Fat Threshold". This PFT is not necessarily obvious and is typically visceral fat around the organs or in them, i.e. those who are skinny fat may breach their threshold without showing outward signs of being overweight. Sadly it's behind a paywall but there is an abstract available: http://www.clinsci.org/content/128/7/405.full-text.pdf

The interesting question then becomes what contributes to exceeding the personal fat threshold, and does lifestyle play a much more important role in causing those who are predisposed to T2 to end up getting there?
 
Name me a country that does not have a Macdonalds in it? The modern diet and marketing makes sure our refined processed products get to all corners of the world. You can get a soda fizzy anywhere. (with added Sugar Tax?) The developing countries are not immune to western lifestyle changes.
 
Who care about what foods there are..... you choose what you put in your mouth. Telling people they're type 2 because they've got fat on the inside or outside of their body makes it sound like they're responsible for getting diabetes.... that's not the case. I wish people would stop and think. Lifestyle is only one precursor... one. No one knows what people are dealing with and what actually caused their diabetes... people assume only based on media rubbish.
 

I had Diabetes Australia reply to me in regard to the lifestyle precursor that people go on about in the media to quote that only up to 58% of type 2 cases can contribute lifestyle as a precursor to getting the disease. So I think it's a good idea not to lump all type 2's in the 58%... there's 42% that don't have lifestyle as a contributing factor. People are quick to blame everything and everyone for something they can't explain. I agree quality of food is probably not what it used to be, although it is just thing that could impact on why someone gets sick.
 
Why are we getting so hung up on the cause of diabetes? I leave that to those doing research into this. But, and its a big but, if we show by our example that lifestyle changes especially diet and exercise can alter the outcomes of this disease, then surely that is a good message to share. There is an established link between obesity being a risk factor in developing the disease, even if it is not a cause per se.

We know that making changes to lifestyle works for us, so in my mind lifestyle is part of the equation and cannot be ignored. If someone mentions that I may have been responsible for triggering my condition, then this is an occasion for me to enlighten them, not bite their head off.
 
Mep said:
Telling people they're type 2 because they've got fat on the inside or outside of their body makes it sound like they're responsible for getting diabetes
Click to expand...
As @Oldvatr says, if lifestyle changes change the outcomes then they should be promoted. That you had a timebomb there that could have been averted by doing so raises an interesting ethical point as to whether your lifestyle is something that is your fault if you didn't know you were predisposed.
 
one of my uncles got lung cancer. He was a smoker from the age of 12. He stopped smoking when all the stuff came out about smoking and lung cancer. But he still died of it. He smoked at a time when smoking was actively encouraged, even by doctors. Should he then be blamed for smoking and dying of lung cancer? No. Yet he was blamed by many for causing his own cancer.

I am seeing the same vilification of the overweight in the media. If type 2 diabetes is triggered by carbs in those susceptible to diabetes, should they be blamed for not having prior knowledge and being actively encouraged by the medical profession to do the very thing which has led to their diagnosis and continuing problems? I dont think so. And yet that is what we are seeing and hearing, time after time, hence the upset the BBC article has caused to us today, and continues to cause us.

I believe that type 2 is "cured" by weight loss simply because of the reduction in carbs that such dieting brings, and thus the diabetes recurs when the lower carbing diet is discarded after being told they are "cured".
 
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