Rename Type 1 Diabetes

I wonder if when years ago when T1 diabetes was called juvenile diabetes or insulin-dependent diabetes did the then adults get annoyed because it was not only juveniles who were getting diabetes but the adults thenselves, so the adults then campaigned to have the name changed :?:

Now the process is beginning again :roll:

And what about the ones who are both T1/T2 no one seems to care or voice an opinion on them :?:

I took offence at a comment by a T1 on the facebook page when she stated that she did not get diabetes from being a slob, indicating in my view that all T2's are slobs, they may be obese and overweight but then we have to look into the reason they are that way.

The facebook group, and to some extend this post, has shocked and saddened me.
What a shame some of us feel the need to "justify" our disease. I too have been in this position in the past... but as many have said already, it is surely important to remember that whatever our "diabetic classification" is, we have a life-altering, potentially life-limiting disease. Which is potentially devastating for anyone. I have to say I've struggled with the concept of "worse" diseases for a while - who's to say what is worse than another. I've been diagnosed with a definitely life-limiting disease myself recently, that many would consider "worse" than diabetes, but some days for me the diabetes is more of a pain, more of a pressure, more of a burden. So surely some of us will have "worse" diabetes this month, and for others it will be more of a problem next month. Severity partly depends on what's going on in life at the time surely.

But sorry, I waffle (just was so upset I needed to vent). Back to the question...

So we divide diabetes into type 1 and type 2. What about those of us with MODY, or diabetes from other diseases/drugs (CF, steroids, surgery), or even those whose type is unknown at first diagnosis. Where do we fall, what diagnosis do we get? In a world where medical students get just 1hr lecture on diabetes in their entire degree, do you really want to risk your future doctors being even more confused. I know there's the whole insulin deficiency/insulin resistance differences in different forms of diabetes, and the modes of onset are different, but ultimately a lot of the processes behind the different forms all come down to the same physiology, and the same basic knowledge needed to understand the effects of the condition. Hence to me it makes sense to call it all diabetes.

Tried so hard when reading this not to be dragged in but this comment enticed me Im afraid

Perhaps the Type 1's who dismiss us as fellow sufferers would like to rename themselves as Superior Beings?

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. That's as harsh as is calling T2's slobs/fat/ etc etc and completely not necessary

I am well versed in the reason for weight gain in T2 - resistance to insulin creating a vicious cycle (esp on low fat, high carb diets) and actually do defend my fellow sufferers. The visibility factor is often the deciding factor for the public and med professionals (ie, fat, thin blah blah blah) I do not however see myself as a Superior Being and find it offensive to be called so.

Ive never felt obliged to blame a T2 for their condition any more than I blame my mother for my possible genetic predisposition , or the government for possible toxins that were the environmental autoimmune trigger that changed my life aged 33. The main difference is that T1's will die quickly without medication and that, whether liked or not, does set us apart to some degree.
And it IS frustrating when people dont realise how much of a daily management problem all diabetes is, and that its not just about not having sweets but if it all goes wrong then very quickly you will DIE.
So, i dont think Pretty Boy should be so harsh on T2's but it would be good to have the chance of diet and exercise or meds, not to have bruised thighs, punctured stomach , revoked driving license, and living in a constant state of anxiety because you have to choose between spikes in bg or hypos when trying to deviate from more than 25g carbs in your dinner!

T1's are not more important, it just is what it is. We are all at risk of the SAME complications caused by persistent hyperglycemia. We will all need the same support when push to comes to shove and our eyesight gives up, or we can no longer feel our toes.

We cant get into this debate - where does it start and stop? Should diabetics who dont make an effort to control their hba1c be refused retinal screening? Should those who continue to eat pies, beans and chips be refused cardiology appointments because 'they' brought it on themselves

Renaming Type 1 will make no difference to those who dont want to know/need to know/care to know. It wont set us apart, it will just be another disease, another name, same misconceptions.

So, lets get a grip and put our energy to helping each other than going round in circles for the rest of this post

Hi Lilibet,
The quote you have taken from my previous post does not apply to you as you understand the "mechanics" behind Type 2. If it caused you offence, then I apologise as that was not my intention. It was for people who have been rude towards Type 2's and show little understanding.

I am at a loss to understand why Type 2's have to take all the flack for their condition and some of the posts here are such that they inflame people to respond. (Troll alert).

I have always understood the "mechanics" of Type 1 and my heart goes out to all who have this condition. Parents of Type 1 children deserve a medal as do the children. I am not knocking anyone, just finding it hard to understand the animosity behind some of the posts. I wouldn't be human if I did not defend myself and others.

I have a friend with breast cancer and am sure that cancer sufferers do not want divisions depending on the location of their illness or the severity of their treatment.

I always thought that this forum was for diabetics, regardless of their status, all for one and one for all sort of thing. This divide is soul destroying and so unnecessary. The comments on Facebook about this subject show how ignorance reigns in some quarters. Perhaps the OP would like to defend his/her stance as he/she seems to have kept out of it now that it is rolling. Perhaps they just supplied the bullets for the gun and sat back to enjoy the mayhem?

Catherine.

Some good points, well made Catherine. The voice of reason as usual

I personally think this whole thread and indeed the whole type 1 versus type 2 debate, here and elsewhere is a very sad indictment of our society as a whole.

If mankind cannot even get on/agree when disease is a common denominator what chance do we as the human race ever have of stopping war and achieving peace on earth? :cry:

Jim (going thru the male menopause :wink: )

I suppose that begets the question (again, the same one being asked at the beginning of this thread): How much of a common denominator IS diabetes, especially when comparing the two different types?

Let me illustrate:

I have type 1 diabetes. One of my internal organs has failed (in one of its capacities). I require injectionable medicine/supplements in order to survive and must keep a constant watch on my blood glucose levels in order to avoid either extreme hyper- or hypo-glycemia.

My mother has high cholesterol. Her body produces an elevated level of it. She has to limit her intake of certain foodstuffs, exercise a little more frequently, have checks on her long term levels every three months and, hypothetically, take a cholesterol lowering tablet once a day. In the long term, if she doesn't regulate her hypercholesterolaemia, damage will be caused to her arteries which could lead to several things.


One of those is recognised as a disease, the other (generally) isn't. High cholesterol is just a condition, or whatever term you'd use. But would you really call it a disease? I doubt you would.

So which one does type 2 diabetes more closely resemble? Be honest.

You say how can we have hope if we can't even be unified by a disease? Well, I don't really see it as a possible unifier, because frankly, I don't view type 2 diabetes as a disease. Not in the way type 1 is. I'm not saying this as a demand for sympathy. I just don't think you guys deserve any. No more than my mother does anyway.

Useless Pretty Boy said:

because frankly, I don't view type 2 diabetes as a disease.

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T2 IS a disease, it can and does cause hyperglycaemia and if the T2 is on insulin (as I am)it can also cause hypoglycaemia it can and does lead to exactly the same complications as T1 if not controlled. You appear to be reasonably intelligent so why are you posting this inflammatory garbage?

To compare it with high cholesterol is just ridiculous, if this forum was still properly moderated you would no doubt have been warned not to try to goad people into aggressive replies.

I come on this forum for help and advice not to be wound up thank you very much, its bad enough we have to argue so much about diet without people spouting rubbish about this type being worse than that type.

"frankly" uncontrolled T2 is more serious than well controlled T1 think about it?

Useless Pretty Boy said:

I'm not saying this as a demand for sympathy. I just don't think you guys deserve any. No more than my mother does anyway.

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I am amazed at how you use such a sweeping statement... I have read this thread & kept out of commenting as a newly diagnosed T2 (or should that be slob?) but I felt that I needed to say something about how I came on this site to find out answers & for support in something that I am just learning about & am TOTALLY in shock at the way fellow humans be it T1 or T2 can speak to each other. If I had come across a post like this in my first few days of trying to get my head around things I certainly wouldn't have come back.... which means I wouldn't have dropped my Bg's from 18.4 to 5.2, I wouldn't have learnt that I need to keep my daily carbs below 20g per day to keep them like this nor would I have lost 22lbs in weight in January! This has all happened because of the support & information I have gleamed from this site!

I don't want sympathy (just as well as us T2's don't deserve it apparently) but I was told by my DN that I became overweight because I had diabetes (she thinks its been undiagnosed since the birth of my son 6 yrs ago), she summerised that as I have spent 6 years trying to lose weight as I had been told by low fat, high carbs it exasperated my problem & so on & so forth!

I truly sympathise with those who have T1 & all the trauma they have to go thru on a day to day basis especially those young children diagnosed with the disease, but you will make my sympathy wane if this stupid tyrade continues... sure discuss the renaming of T1 but in a grown up adult manner especially if you want this site to further help those of us seeking help when newly diagnosed!!

If I ask my 5 year old type 1 daughter what she thinks about someone
(or at least the 80% of T2 who are overweight at diagnosis)
who allows themselves to become diabetic through lifestyle choices she would undoubtedly think they were very silly as not
being diabetic would be her number one wish.

I think we should sympathize with T1’s who are viewed as having caused their own condition due to the public belief that all diabetics are the same.

Renaming may well help in this – why should a 5 year have to deal with people believing her condition was caused because she ate to many sweets …

On the other hand this forum needs to be for all as it is a great source of info regardless of who posts a response - the difference between T1/T2 etc is just one aspect of a wider issue

interesting debate though

Why can't we all just get along? :twisted:

Type 1 and Type 2 SHOULD be renamed. They are not the same disease. I can't for the life of me figure out why they are treated as a single entity. Insulin is GREAT for T1's. They couldn't survive without. But prescribing insulin to T2's beggars belief. A lot of us are T2 because we tried to lose weight by dropping the essential fatty acids (ESSENTIAL) and eating more carbs. What happened when we did that? Our own bodies kicked out more insulin (THE FAT BUILDING HORMONE!) and made us put weight on!!! Great advice - thanks for that NHS...

I didn't give myself diabetes by ignoring the NHS advice for losing weight. It happend BECAUSE I followed it. Even after diagnosis I followed THAT diet for a few years (lots of baked potatoes, lots of pasta, wholemeal bread, brown rice, lots of fruit and veg, very, VERY little fat, etc...) It REALLY upsets me that after being diagnosed I continued to damage my body by following advice from SO CALLED proffessionals.

T2 is deadly. Don't think that it's not.

Patch said:

Why can't we all just get along? :twisted:

Type 1 and Type 2 SHOULD be renamed. They are not the same disease. I can't for the life of me figure out why they are treated as a single entity. Insulin is GREAT for T1's. They couldn't survive without. But prescribing insulin to T2's beggars belief. A lot of us are T2 because we tried to lose weight by dropping the essential fatty acids (ESSENTIAL) and eating more carbs. What happened when we did that? Our own bodies kicked out more insulin (THE FAT BUILDING HORMONE!) and made us put weight on!!! Great advice - thanks for that NHS...

I didn't give myself diabetes by ignoring the NHS advice for losing weight. It happend BECAUSE I followed it. Even after diagnosis I followed THAT diet for a few years (lots of baked potatoes, lots of pasta, wholemeal bread, brown rice, lots of fruit and veg, very, VERY little fat, etc...) It REALLY upsets me that after being diagnosed I continued to damage my body by following advice from SO CALLED proffessionals.

T2 is deadly. Don't think that it's not.

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Brilliant post Patch! x

Brilliantly put Patch, thank you.

To cap it all there is so much pressure put on us to continue to follow the damaging NHS advice which will make us suffer from all the dire complications that we are warned about. Then, to add insult to injury, those who don’t follow the useless NHS advice are labelled as ‘non-compliant’!

Useless Pretty Boy sounds so very young and inexperienced and if he can speak in such a way of his own mother it is useless to expect anything more. :shock:

One can only assume that he chose his own name to post on here and so since everything he has says on here is prefaced by ‘Useless Pretty Boy’ it all seems to fit so very well. :lol:

Surely this being a forum it is important that everyone has their right to both opinion and their view-controversial maybe but however valid. That said pretty boy is clearly just voicing his views and opinions, of which some will be in agreement with. Me being one of those. I feel deeply for children who have type 1 and also the parents, as our children are labelled with a disease that has stigma attached to it because of the unknowledgeable majority. That said, if either type 1 or type 2 had a different name our children would not suffer playground bullying by the above mentioned unknowledgeable majority. As adults we know that bullies that may torment our children are just ill informed and don't know better, however that goes no way to cushion the stigma that our type 1 children suffer daily because of association.

I hate to say this, but I think that we the diabetics, put as much misinformation into the arena as do joe public, and the professionals... And sometimes I ponder whether we do more of it than any-one...

Take me for example...

I don't hide my diabetes but there again I don't shout from the roof tops about it... I plod along day to day living my life as well as doing the necessary for my diabetes, fundimently my diabetes has to fit in with my life and not me to it! I do the same thing as anybody else I even eat the same foods as anyone else... No-one unless I say would know that I was a diabetic... Thats me, just jo blogs getting on with my life..


Then you get the diabetic, can be either T1 or T2, who makes a real mountin out of mole hills, there favouirate phrase seems to be ' can't do that I'm a diabetic' shortly followed by 'I can't eat that I'm a diabetic' 'I need special diets and/or arrangments I'm a diabetic' the list can go on and on...

One of my old managers, used to hold me awe because of the way I handled my diabetes, camping with the kids in the middle of the forest, trapsing around countryside, as active famlies do.. She was awed struck by my attitude, because she watched, her daughters marriage almost breakdown, her grandchildren missing out on a lot of activities, because her T1 son-in-law favouriate phrase was 'I can't because I'm a diabetic'!!!!!

I worked with a diet controlled T2, who well well well, all we got was I HAVE to have break or lunch at xxx time, because I'm a diabetic... Can't eat this or that Because I'm a diabetic sick time of work here there and everywhere 'because of my diabetes! (over a 6 year period I had 3 days off work sick!) and to when I had my breaks, when ever, unless I had to sort out a hypo, didn't make much differene to when I went I was flexible...

It is no wonder why joe public is so confused about diabetes, as there seem to be so many veriables surrounding it!!! Most actually put there by us the diabetics!!!!!

:cry: :cry:

zacnemma said:

That said, if either type 1 or type 2 had a different name our children would not suffer playground bullying by the above mentioned unknowledgeable majority.

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BWAH-HA-HA-HA!!! Are you for real?!? You think that Type 1 children are bullied because the kids doing the bullying are uneducated? Get a grip...

Do you REALLy think that your child is being bullied because of T2s, and the mis-conception that T2 is self inflicted? Do you think any of the kids in your childs school are even AWARE of T2?

Lets say we re-named T2 "Boogaflip", and T1 "Salogrop". And gave ALL kids ALL the information available on the 2 diseases. Do you really think that would stop the bullying? Bullies are JUST BAD PEOPLE. The best thing you can teach your diabetic children about dealing with bullies is to smack the bully in the mouth. Just make sure that the teachers in school aren't sympathetic to bullies. I know some teachers DO turn a blind eye to bullying, and some teachers would prefer that the child being bullied DID NOT fight back. Fighting back raises the profile of the situation. Some teachers would rather the bullying just happened, nice and quiet - fighting back against a bully means the teacher has to get involved, and bullies usually have mean parents. Teachers don't want to deal with mean parents.

How do you feel about people with Ginger hair? How do you stop THEM being bullied?

Your post was very diplomatically worded, zacnemma (and I do feel greatly for your T1 children) - but the sentiments in your post were extremely offensive. What you're doing is like blaming Jews for people hating Nazis...

Useless Pretty Boy said:

My argument for a greater distinction rests on a simple fact: Type 1 is deadly without medication, Type 2 isn't.

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Great we can flush our meds away, nice one!

ZACNEMMA said:

Surely this being a forum it is important that everyone has their right to both opinion and their view-controversial maybe but however valid. That said pretty boy is clearly just voicing his views and opinions, of which some will be in agreement with. Me being one of those. I feel deeply for children who have type 1 and also the parents, as our children are labelled with a disease that has stigma attached to it because of the unknowledgeable majority. That said, if either type 1 or type 2 had a different name our children would not suffer playground bullying by the above mentioned unknowledgeable majority. As adults we know that bullies that may torment our children are just ill informed and don't know better, however that goes no way to cushion the stigma that our type 1 children suffer daily because of association.

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Even if those views are bigoted?

How about the assertion that mothers cause their children to become type 1 due to vitamin D deficiency? So the children aren't to blame but their parents are, so it's the parents that need to take the responsibility for the bullying?

By the way, I am playing devils advocate, I don't believe that either.