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I'm diabetic vs I have diabetes

Brunneria said:
I'm actually more uncomfortable with D being called a disease (which is accurate), rather than a condition (which is also accurate, and which i prefer), but would never make an issue out of that, either.
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I don't think Diabetes per se is a disease. I'd argue that it's a set of symptoms resulting from a set of different diseases or conditions - i.e. an autoimmune disease that has killed the beta cells, a metabolic condition that has resulted in insulin resistance and high blood glucose levels or the loss of the pancreas.

In and of its own, saying "I'm a diabetic" is saying "Without medication, I would suffer high blood glucose levels, become very ill and most likely die quickly". But it isn't actually, by definition, a disease!
 

I actually looked up an online definition of disease before posting (cos I have always felt it was dodgy territory) and the definition stated a disease is 'a disorder of structure or function in a human, animal or plant, especially one that produces specific symptoms or that affects a specific location and is not simply a direct result of injury.'
- Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary

I don't like it, but it fits.
I will continue to call D a condition.
 
I do not have a problem with the word diabetic I have just become one
Diabetic is the perfectly valid way to describe someone with diabetes
 
Found this :-
disease
See definition in Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary
Top 1000 frequently used words
Line breaks: dis|ease
Pronunciation: /dɪˈziːz/

Definition of disease in English:
noun
1A disorder of structure or function in a human, animal, or plant, especially one that produces specific symptoms or that affects a specific location and is not simply a direct result of physical injury:bacterial

meningitis is quite a rare disease

[MASS NOUN]: heart disease
 


CONDITION

con·di·tion
(kən-dĭsh′ən)
n.
1. A disease or physical ailment.
2. A state of health or physical fitness.
v.
To cause an organism to respond in a specific manner to a conditioned stimulus in the absence of an unconditioned stimulus.
 
I must admit to reacting negatively to being called a diabetic but it does depend on the context. I'm more than 'a diabetic' and I don't want to be defined by that condition, or any illness. However, saying "I'm diabetic" can be a shortcut to communicating with some people especially when I'm querying the carb content of food. Having said that, though, I've only been diagnosed since May this year and am already sick of people telling me what I can and cannot eat and about the 'cures' for Type 1! We all wear many labels and I guess they're all appropriate in different contexts - I'm also a mother, sister, friend, wife, teacher, swimmer, wine-drinker, asthmatic, etc.
 
Don't care. It is part of who I am - it is a descriptive word - just like saying I'm a red head. Therefore I am a short - *****, grumpy, diabetic, mother, nanna, sister, friend, red - head with an under active thyroid and is a bit over weight who volunteers at the junior rugby league club, and local rugby league.
 
Mmmh, if being called a diabetic was the worse thing I'd been called..........
 
diabetic

adjective
adjective
1.
having diabetes.

noun
1.
a person suffering from diabetes.

All the same. Interestingly, it's the same as being called a man (although the noun can also apply to woman!).

man
adjective
1.
having testicles

noun
1.
a person suffering from having testicles
 
Scardoc said:
All the same. Interestingly, it's the same as being called a man (although the noun can also apply to woman!).

man
adjective
1.
having testicles

noun
1.
a person suffering from having testicles
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You've been to my local bar then?
 
Perhaps we should be reclassified as 'persons who are a continuous drain on the resources of the NHS including hard line tax dodgers who refuse to eat enough sugar to consider them productive members of society'....... (Sorry I've a had a bad day!!) Sue xx
 
Speak for yourself. So far in a net contributor thank you!
 
I don't think I like it much - as in ' Oh here comes the diabetic' any more than I like (since I have ginger hair) 'Oh here comes the ginger' and this is from supposed friends why not just say 'Oh here's fairylights!) But depends on the context i suppose and I guess the first one (which has been said about me more than once) is what they are trrying to get away from.
 
When I went to school, adjectives were "describing" words, not "defining" words. When did this change? Some Americans now prefer to be called a person with diabetes, which they abbreviate to PWD. According to Wikipedia, pwd stands for "person with disability" Who wants to be called that?
 
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