Guardian article on diabetes epidemic

[RussG]

Guardian article today on the diabetes epidemic. It does [try to] explain the difference between T1 and T2 but is a little simplistic and largely focuses on obesity-related T2 (by which I take to mean not all T2s, natch), and which it says is largely avoidable.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2...he-epidemic?commentpage=all#start-of-comments

 

[Unbeliever]

Can't remember when I last read a more annoying and irritaing article. It reads just like the DUK site - unsurprisingly!
Articles like that are not going to help any of us. Its most disturbing to think that the government are taking advice from these people..

Many of us can't get test strips because of the cos , yet all "they" seem to want is more "Educators" Hmmm
Perhaps the amount saved on the strips will cover the pay of the Educators.

 

[catherinecherub]

I always like to read the comments on such articles.
Some of them are so biased against Type2 and some think they have all the answers.

If you get time, read the comment by "CaptainDarling", it sums my feelings up exactly.

We have to be our own manager and if only we were given the tools, proper dietary advice and testing equipment, it would be a lot easier. I don't know how, but the Educators have to be educated and told that there is not a blueprint for managing Type 2 diabetes as people's responses to certain foods are different as is proved here, time and time again.

 

[LittleGreyCat]

Terrible journalism in parts.

The use of meaningless statistics - 20% more, 50% more etc. without telling you the real figures.
Is it 1 in 1,000 gone up to 2 in 1,000? That is a 50% increase.

Also the death statistics - doesn't tell you how many non-diabetics die of vascular disease.
I thought that in old age either you got pneumonia or stroke/heart failure finished you off. Diabetic or not, everyone dies of something.

Also

People with diabetes have a foot amputated 70 times a week in England,

I pity the poor surgeon who has to keep sowing it back on - unless most diabetics are centipedes?

Also

So what is it? Diabetes is when there's too much glucose in the blood. Glucose is the body's fuel; our cells use it as their primary source of energy. But to enter a cell, glucose needs insulin, a hormone made by the pancreas. If for some reason we don't produce enough insulin, or the insulin we produce doesn't work properly, glucose builds up in the blood. That's diabetes.

The implication is that if you don't produce enough insulin then you can't get glucose into your cells. This would mean no energy. Personally I don't suffer from lack of energy even when my blood sugars are high. I may be wrong but I thought the problem with T2s was that the monitoring of BG and regulation by insulin was broken, so the bit of extra sugar in the blood wans't dumped out as fat once the basic cellular needs had been met.

In general an interesting article but still very mixed messages.

Cheers

LGC

 

[AMBrennan]

This would mean no energy

If you have no insulin at all, then yes. Trust me when I say that that's absolutely correct. The use "primary" as opposed to "only" suggests that cells have other sources of energy (which they do - fat)
But you'e quite correct that the problem in T2s is insufficient insulin to remove excess glucose from the bloodstream and not supplying cells with energy. I suppose the article could have been a bit clearer here.

 

[Unbeliever]

I always like to read the comments on such articles.
Some of them are so biased against Type2 and some think they have all the answers.

If you get time, read the comment by "CaptainDarling", it sums my feelings up exactly.

We have to be our own manager and if only we were given the tools, proper dietary advice and testing equipment, it would be a lot easier. I don't know how, but the Educators have to be educated and told that there is not a blueprint for managing Type 2 diabetes as people's responses to certain foods are different as is proved here, time and time again.

I

I have now read all he comments to date. Had fun "recommending" a few including Captain Darling's. I can understand those with absoluely no experience or knowledge of diabetes
takng it all a face value but I really hink DUK and Boroness Young should be ashamed of themselves.They are not doing any of us any favours,

At firs I was horrified by some of the comments but I think that eventually tthe balance was redressed to an extent. i hope a lot of readers mangaed o read tthe comments . Far more worthwhile than reading tthe original article. They would no only have found some useful information about diabees but some may even recognise some of the prejudice we have to face.

I can understand some T1s feeling that they are neglected but I don't thik tthey are missing much. That article did T2s no favours. I don't think we stand to gain much from that sort of attention.

 

[CAT NM]

Guardian,

There seems to be no explanation of why there is a diabetes epidemic. It seems to be a scare tactic. This is rather than state symptoms and ways to raise awareness of diabetes without scaring the public.

I sometimes query if certain types of psychiatric medications cause weight gain and plus result in increasing risk factors for diabetes.

There could be genetic factors such as Parents or Grandparents.

There is perhaps a lot of fast food in this country and thus you cannot tell if the food that you are eating has added glucose in or not.

Diabetes has been around for years. However perhaps eating less frequently causes fluctuations in glucose levels.

There seems to be a lot of can machines with fizzy drinks. Thus drinking lots of sugar and having a fast release of glucose rather than a gradual release of glucose. Thus perhaps healthier drinking habits should be encouraged. Thus the offering of orange juice or alternatives.

I feel that in the past rations might have decreased the amount of glucose in the diet. However today glucose is in just about everything we eat. Cups of tea to chocolate bars. There seems to be increased temptations. Crash diets. These don't seem healthy.

Thus diabetes might be caused through a society that has over indulged in quick glucose fixes. In addition to this an increase in prescriptions of certain types of medications that cause weight gain.

CAT NM