Hobs said:
As we are not medically qualified and most probably without medically qualified forum staff, only opinions can be offered and NONE should be taken as fact.
This needs to be made plain before someone holds the forum owner legally responsible for misrepresentation of established medical facts.
In the UK it is impossible to disclaim responsibilities laid down by the law.
If indeed there is a 'minor' trolling through the forum .. and getting frightened - then I applaud their presence of mind and assertion to bring this information to admin, whilst feeling so fragile and vulnerable
However I must doubt that those people who refuse acknowledge reality would have been swayed by whatever may have been said here, or by what perceived tone, either sensitive or insensitive
Symptoms and diagnosis from medical sites are freely available, however anyone who takes information straight from any internet site, be it NHS or forum based without double checking or validating it, is in my opinion foolish.
When I came to this site knowledge of diabetes, complications or otherwise was gleaned from 'safe' sources such as NHS - conversely anything I learned here was information about peoples own experience of living life as a diabetic and complications that they experienced / did not want to experience .. in other words anecdotal.
My overall learning experience was that diabetes was not terminal, unmanageable, nor specifically something I'd done to myself, and after reading the forum for a while (both threads on diet and complications) I began to be both concerned that if I didn't DO SOMETHING then complications would be something I would have to be responsible for myself, yet heartily reassured that a great number of members were able to commit to change and were evidently getting better results
So "Should members be allowed to discuss the causes and reality of diabetic complications"
If other members can post
" All I really want is cake, chocolate, bread - why can't I have it ?
Which personally I find an offensive post and really makes me angry - I can have the above if I want, they can have the above if they want - I don't want the associated bg levels that go with it and I struggle as hard as any of us must, who no longer count these items amongst our daily go to foods - my point here is that I don't read these posts, I don't want to be brought down to the level of feeling denied and hard done by and I don't currently have enough of my own sense of well being to share anything with posters like this - hopefully I'll grow kinder
By that rule nobody HAS to join a conversation regarding complications - but if you start one or join one you MUST expect that people are going to make observations and there is
no moderation that will be able to cherry pick only the 'nice' ones that don't offend your sensibilities
I would respectfully suggest if minors are unhappy, they should be restricted to a children's area and that the adults not be prevented from discussing certain topics, because of fear of damaging those minors - just as I have not asked for the self absorbed posters (my opinion) comments to be removed or moderated for fear of my being coerced back into a life of bread intake and high bg
otherwise what is the point of a forum like this ?