Undiagnosed

Roy Batty said:

In response to an article in The Times on undiagnosed diabetes Professor Tim Spector tweeted this "One million adults live with undiagnosed type 2 diabetes and about 5 million with pre diabetes and the U.K. has NO public health policy to deal with it and says our food advice is fine",

When added to those that have had a diagnosis of T2D or pre diabetes then almost 10% of the UK population are affected.

Food for thought by Public Heath England and other governmental agencies,

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The NHS is the fattest golden goose of all, and I think Zoe’s strategy is to make its big move there. My guess is that it’s positioning itself accordingly: ‘You guys had a big problem and then came us!’ etc. I wouldn’t bet against them! They did great work during Covid with their symptom app, so no complaints from me if they make lots of money. They’re a bit pro-carb and anti-sat fat for my taste, but I wonder how much of that is making their offering palatable to the powers that be? Or maybe I’m just getting suspicious in my old age.

Yes, the rising blood glucose dysregulation, and in the face of "the food advice is fine", is a global phenomenon, indeed.

I know of many instances in my own country, Aotearoa/NZ, of friends, who get prediabetic HBA1c readings, and their docs and medical centres do not inform them. So, no chance to do something about it, before it leads to diabetes proper.

The US has a slightly lower line between healthy and prediabetes, re HBA1c, I believe? Not sure what that means for their docs taking a prediabetes diagnosis seriously.

As for undiagnosed T2D in big numbers. Yeah. Mine went undiagnosed for I don't know how long because I hated having blood tests, to say I was needle shy is an understatement, as I bruise easily, and I was in a country (Mother Sweden) which is a bit heavy handed with large hurting needles. I'd had a couple of tests and had to live with heavy bruising, so I was loathe to have another, and in that time... well... now I'm super used to blood tests, and know all about butterfly needles, and how to ask for them....Sigh.

I would still be undiagnosed if I hadn't been taken into hospital for something completely different. What I now recognise as typical symptoms are not made public as such, and what are stated as typical weren't happening. And without the help of you lovely chaps and chapesses on here, I would now be taking insulin and not making the changes that are so easy and so important. To help a great tranche of ill people, we have to have the RIGHT advice, and it's still in short supply. This is a health issue with many corners,

I'm amazed at how easy everything has been for me with the right advice, and how I would have continued to be full-on insulin-dependent T2 with the incorrect advice or none at all that came my way. The stigma is alive and well about us causing our own illness by being obese and idle. And nobody in my surgery has ever asked what I have done. I will have to be very careful if I go into hospital again as my notes say I am insulin-dependent and nobody seems to pass on or alter my notes to say that I am not.

AloeSvea said:

The US has a slightly lower line between healthy and prediabetes, re HBA1c, I believe? Not sure what that means for their docs taking a prediabetes diagnosis seriously.

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I am super-aware of this difference between the UK (WHO) cutoff and the US. My first and worst A1c showed 41. Luckily, the Practice nurse pointed out to me that I was only one ml/L away from Pre-diabetes. In the US 41 would be considered fairly in to Pre-diabetes already. Their cutoff translates to 38.8 ml/L.

Unfortunately, I understand that although Drs in the US may or may not take pre-diabetic levels seriously, they are more likely to prescribe meds. than to suggest a low carb regime. I believe that diabetes is a problem best addressed by a well-informed and determined patient rather than by most doctors, who in my experience are well out of date in this speciality.