Will we live to a ripe old age

[therower]

As a T1 I have to control my little friend "diabetes" or the little ****** will have me in a box asap. I've been in control for 27 yrs now and can honestly say I'm as fit and as healthy as anyone else my age and even a lot who are younger. Why??????? Because being T1 has made me have to focus on doing stuff right, sensible diet, plenty exercise, positive stress free attitude ( not always that easy ) and a stubborn never let the ba****ds get you down outlook on life.
I've said it before (apologies for repeating myself) and I'll say it again. Diabetes has made me a better , stronger ,healthier person.
So @tristan . Be positive and use your condition to inspire you.

 

[noblehead]

I'll opt for quality of life any day rather than quantity

Couldn't agree more @Robbity

 

[covknit]

Does having diabetes steal years from us?

If we are in control of our blood glucose levels and have plenty of exercise
Will we live to a ripe old age or are we going to live a shorter life due to having this condition, no matter how well we manage it

I'm hoping under control we have just the same chances

Your thoughts ?

Now my parents were told I would not get to 20. I am currently three times that. There were times I felt so ill and so much pain I would gladly have gone. Then this surgeon came up with this wonderful procedure. This happened in 1973 so the NHS paid for him to come to the UK amd operate on little ol' me. Now I was young, in pain and had a tendency to do as I was told so I did not ask all the questions everyone will insist I should have and I certainly did not stand up for any "of my rights" blah so I have absolutely no idea what the arrangements were with all the doctors that came to see me or look at me sitting in a wheelchair in front of my xrays but I do know the operation became routine. What I do know is something like that has a curiously liberating effect when it comes to the trials and tribulations of life. You do not know what the future holds. Just this week I was reading an item about the diabetes causing mutations in the genome and the LMNA gene. Apparently it is already known there is a strong link between underweight babies and diabetes in later life. There is probably more chance of a cure than there is falling under the proverbial but unlikely bus. Why a bus of all things? Surely a speeding Audi is more likely. Live your life to the full. The end will arrive may we never know how or when.

 

[tristan]

Couldn't agree more about leading a fitter life now and being more healthy in my food choices,

Glad to hear this isn't a known life shortener, unless you choose to lead an uncontrolled lifestyle.

My fears of dying earlier than I wanted to can be put to bed then. Just not too long a life lol

I was concerned about inflated life insurance costs and related stuff like that

 

[zand]

Apparently it is already known there is a strong link between underweight babies and diabetes in later life.

Maybe the tendency is to make sure an underweight baby is well fed - so Mums overcompensate with food to make up for a bad start?

 

[Winnie53]

There is the issue of how long you had T2 before anyone noticed. This could mean that some damage already occurred. Mind you I think that controlling blood sugar and some exercise will stop it progressing at anything like the rate it would have done.

Another reason for wishing to live to 110 is to see if all that cobblers about Metformin has any truth to it.

Why stop at stopping the progression? Why not reversal of complications. Richard Bernstein accomplished this with all but one of his many diabetic complications in his 40's.

 

[noblehead]

I was concerned about inflated life insurance costs and related stuff like that

Don't go there............

Speaking as as a type 1 I can tell you the premiums are well and truly loaded.

 

[covknit]

Maybe the tendency is to make sure an underweight baby is well fed - so Mums overcompensate with food to make up for a bad start?

That is certainly a thought but not the conclusion the article was arriving at. Their theory is that genetic mutations "which increase the risk of T2D" caused the lower birth weight "as insulin is an important fetal growth factor,"

 

[JohnEGreen]

And of course it all depends on what you call a ripe old age. I at 67 am the oldest living male in my family now. my 67th birthday came as something of a surprise to me a pleasant surprise but never the less a bit unexpected.

 

[welovedzig]

Mr Zig is the one with diabetes, he gets loads of check ups from the doctors and I never get any, there could be anything wrong with me - never even had a cholesterol check! He is also a very healthy 9 stone 10 at the height of 5'10", so has lost 2 stones in weight. 2 days ago there was an accident on the M55 and a man of 53 from our town died at the scene. You just don't know what life (or death) holds for you.

 

[Squire Fulwood]

Why stop at stopping the progression? Why not reversal of complications. Richard Bernstein accomplished this with all but one of his many diabetic complications in his 40's.

A very nice idea and I am not against it. Not many people claim reversal of complications so I would like to feel that lots of people are achieving it but I don't at the moment.

Not to be too glum about it but the people with retinopathy or amputations won't be reversing much. I think it is tragic that they got that bad and didn't have the benefit of what we now know.

 

[Enclave]

And of course it all depends on what you call a ripe old age. I at 67 am the oldest living male in my family now. my 67th birthday came as something of a surprise to me a pleasant surprise but never the less a bit unexpected.

My brother and I are also the longest living males in our family .. I can thank my T2 for me reaching 67 without the LCHF way of eating I think I would have been gone a few years back.

 

[Robinredbreast]

Just thinking apart from accident, heart attacks and cancer, would controlled diet and lifestyle diabetic still be behind the 8ball. Or do we see this as not really limiting our lives

Found this on the forum :-
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/longest-living-type-1-diabetic.8671/

 

[gowlanj]

Keeping diabetes under control means being aware of keeping your body healthy and fit, so that has to have a positive effect on your health. Positive thinking

 

[ickihun]

There is the issue of how long you had T2 before anyone noticed. This could mean that some damage already occurred. Mind you I think that controlling blood sugar and some exercise will stop it progressing at anything like the rate it would have done.

Another reason for wishing to live to 110 is to see if all that cobblers about Metformin has any truth to it.

Metformin has saved my life. It gave me my fertility back. Without kids I would have died of a broken heart. And it does exist, look it up!

 

[Squire Fulwood]

Metformin has saved my life. It gave me my fertility back. Without kids I would have died of a broken heart. And it does exist, look it up!

Sorry, what should I look up?

 

[Em1981]

Someone once said to me you don't live longer if you don't drink or smoke, it just feels like it!

It made me chuckle.

I am hoping that by getting my diabetes under control and increasing exercise that I will have a more enjoyable life. Nothing worse than being ill all the time.
We never know when our time is up so for me it makes sense to be as healthy and as active as possible whilst I can be.

 

[Robinredbreast]

Sorry, what should I look up?

Possibly Metformin ? Quote - Another reason for wishing to live to 110 is to see if all that cobblers about Metformin has any truth to it - unquote.

 

[Robinredbreast]

Metformin has saved my life. It gave me my fertility back. Without kids I would have died of a broken heart. And it does exist, look it up!

I have, for the very first time, just looked up Metformin and was quite surprised by the links of the benefits of taking it.

 

[douglas99]

I have, for the very first time, just looked up Metformin and was quite surprised by the links of the benefits of taking it.

Yes, I've refused to come off it.
Sometimes there is a mad scrabble to own the 'drugs free' label, without fully looking at the alternative view.