I totally get where you are both coming from
@sgm14 &
@EllieM. I guess I am influenced by my own unstable blood sugars and my brother’s situation.
My brother was diagnosed with Type 2 back in 2017 and treated by his GP. As a Type 2 he was not given any test strips or support. No advice, just put on Metformin, told to come back in a year, and that was that. He had no clue how serious it was. In late 2020 he started losing weight and felt ill, he thought he had cancer (He had testicular cancer in his 20’s and was treated successfully for it) . He went to his Dr. and it was found his blood sugars were through the roof, his blood was very acidic and was going into DKA. He wasn't type 2 but type1. He could have died.
My point is there is an assumption that just because your blood sugars are raised you have Type 2. Little or no investigation is done by GP’s to Find out the cause until the patent’s blood sugars are so high it becomes life threatening! That’s messed up in my opinion. Yes I know universal health systems do not have the financial means, like private healthcare systems do, but in my opinion it’s putting patients lives at risk.
There are a fair number of diagnosed Type 2’s who are in fact late onset Type 1’s on insulin and have been inappropriately treated for their condition. It’s all about stats and assumptions. We have no idea what the ratio is between late onset T1’s and T2’s.
Secondly, Type 2 is a very serious condition in itself, with potentially life threatening consequences if blood sugars are not controlled. It’s treated as if it’s a minor ailment just because it’s become so much more common In the last decade or so.
Thirdly, because people with Type 2 and those with Prediabetes are sent away with Metformin and minimal to no medical support , patients assume it’s not a serious condition and continue with their lives until they start suffering from very serious life threatening conditions. Then that’s a big wake-up call and they are left to think it’s all their fault.
Many Type 2 patients carry guilt thinking they have brought this on themselves. Reinforced by media misinformation and blame. No one tells them that it isn’t and in the vast majority of cases it’s because their pancreas’ are incapable of producing enough insulin to keep their blood sugars in check. Nobody bothers to tell them that the reason they over eat is physiological and not psychological. Maybe people are not interested in the reasons, but they sure as hell are not given the opportunity to find out why.
Type 2 has increased significantly and GP‘s send you away, effectively you are on your own with a yearly test to see how your blood sugars are doing. Years down the line a significant number of people suffer the devastating medical consequences of high blood sugars on the vascular system And are left wondering what the heck went wrong and it’s all too late.
That turned into a rant!
