6 Common Myths and Misconceptions About Diabetes

Alchohol and diabetes

While I'm not suggesting that diabetics get snockered every time they go to a party it seems that whenever I do go to a party, the host asks if I'd like a glass of wine or beer; then quickly remarks, oh, I forgot, you're a diabetic and alchohol is forbidden. So, I again explain the relationship between diabetes, alchohol, carbohydrates and blood sugar for the millionth time. It's amazing the amount of mythology surrounding this issue. Might I suggest a side article in the future?

ALYN of CA @ Dec 29, 2009 19:11:14 PM

Diabetes

I have type 1 diabetes and have had it for 20 years. Some of the comments for individuals about this article disturb me. Diabetes is not a disease where the same answers can be used for every person out there.

Diabetes is sometimes caused by poor personal choices but sometimes it has nothing to do with what you have done to yourself. Especially, type 1 diabetes. I have also know type 2 diabetics that were thin, excercised, and ate well and still got the disease. Yes, we do need to take responsibility for our health but that responsibility is not the same across all individuals with diabetes.

I eat a normal healthy diet, including fruit, and do not have a problem with it. In fact, if I eat high protein/low carb meals I start to drop ketones and damage my kidneys. Again, there are some basics for all people but there are also many ways of treating diabetes that will work differently for different people. High sugar food/highly processed food is usually not good for anybody but other types of food should be used and tested individually to see how it affects your body (blood sugar).

For type 2 people, my husban and other people I know who have this eat starches and do not have uncontrollable spikes. They eat in moderation (when they choose not to they have high blood sugars) and by eating in moderation they have normal A1c scores.

Deb of ID @ Dec 01, 2009 13:51:29 PM

Smoking with Type II Diabetes

Not sure if anyone is even going to read this but, just out of curiosity, I read above that a person with diabetes should not smoke. I'm just wondering, should not smoke what? Cigarrettes, Cigars, Marijuana?

Yes, I am type II diabetes and occasionally smoke cigarrettes & cigars but I smoke marijuana on a daily basis. Not all day everyday, but I smoke a bit after work or class or at least at the end of the day. My doctors & parents know I do it, because I am not not ashamed and I enjoy it. Sure it makes me hungry but so long as I eat the correct foods does it matter?

I've just always thought, rather known, that marijuana is safer than most drugs - whether prescribed or not - and does some damage but not enough to cause permanent harm.

So I must know, not that YOU can say that it is ok to smoke it, but YOU can tell me whether smoking marijuana is going to affect my diabetes or not? Even if I am eating correctly & exersizing regularly and my blood sugars are within the healthy range?

Please inform.

Thanks.

R. of FL @ Dec 01, 2009 12:44:04 PM

Eating fruit

As this article relates to both Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes, I think that it is correct in stating that diabetics can eat anything which would constitute a healthy diet. While some adults may find that they can manage their bloodsugars better by avoiding fruit remember that growing children with diabetes need the vitamins that fruit contain to stay healthy and have a strong immune system.

KB @ Dec 01, 2009 12:43:45 PM

diabetes

to those who think diabetes is caused by what you eat; i want to know what food i should eat (or not eat) that would cause my pancreas to produce more insulin.i don't know is not an answer. if you don't know, don't ever dispense medical advice to anyone about anything

steve of IL @ Nov 28, 2009 14:21:16 PM

More "myths" corrected

Myth: A diabetes diagnosis means you automatically need insulin. That's the case with type 1 diabetes but not with type 2 diabetes. In some cases, proper diet, exercise, and oral medications, if needed, can keep type 2 diabetes under control for some time before insulin becomes necessary, McLaughlin says. The key is to make a lifestyle change. That means no smoking, more healthful eating habits, and regular exercise.

Correction: This answer assumes that all type 2's will need to use insulin eventually. This is pure nonsense. To say that "...proper diet, exercise, and oral medications, if needed, can keep type 2 diabetes under control for some time before insulin becomes necessary,..." is the hight of irresponsibility for someone in a position of authority. Study after study has confirmed the primacy of healthy lifestyle in not only preventing most cases of type 2 diabetes, but actually reversing it in many cases.

Myth: Only older people get diabetes. These days, children as young as age 5 are being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, McLaughlin says. "It used to be that kids just got type 1 diabetes," which is also known as insulin-dependent diabetes or juvenile diabetes, she says, but now the split between type 1 and type 2 in people under 18 is about 60-40, she says. To help prevent diabetes in children, parents should try to encourage good habits for the entire family. That means less video game and TV time, more physical activity, less junk food, and smaller portions.

No correction needed. Give one to the other team.

Ken Hampshire of CO @ Nov 13, 2009 15:08:09 PM

Answers to "myths" are mostly myths

Myth: Being overweight causes diabetes. Just because a person gains weight doesn't mean she's going to get type 2 diabetes. Having a body mass index over 25 is just one of several risk factors for diabetes, but there are many overweight people who don't get the disease, McLaughlin says. Still, being obese—having a body mass index of 35 or more—is considered to be a major risk factor, and the increase seen in diabetes diagnoses has coincided with a dramatic increase in obesity in the United States, according to the CDC.

Other risk factors for diabetes include being older than 45, a lack of regular physical activity, or a family history of diabetes. You're also at risk if you have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, polycystic ovarian syndrome, metabolic syndrome, or acanthosis nigricans (a condition that causes dark, thickened skin around the armpits or the neck). Having suffered from gestational diabetes during pregnancy or given birth to a baby weighing more than 9 pounds also raises the risk of the disease. And African-Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian-Americans, and American Indians are at higher risk than are Caucasians.

Correction: Her first statement deflects the valuable information to follow. She should have said, "Gaining weight is a significant risk factor for diabetes." She then goes on to point out other risk factors, most of which are symptoms of diabetes, not risks. Hypertension, high cholesterol, and POS are symptoms of diabetes. Gestational diabetes is not a "risk" for diabetes, it IS diabetes. Metabolic syndrome is not a "risk" for diabetes, it IS diabetes. Why all the subterfuge? Never mention of the biggest cause of diabetes – improper, modern, processed diet.

Myth: Having diabetes means you must eat foods that are different from everyone else's. People with diabetes don't need to follow a restricted diet but instead should try to follow the same healthful eating guidelines as everyone else, including choosing foods that are lower in fat, higher in nutrients, and contain an appropriate amount of calories, McLaughlin says. "Everyone needs to be eating healthier. And if you haven't followed healthy eating habits before now, [a diagnosis] is a good wake-up call to make positive changes," she says.

Correction: Of course you should be eating different foods. Are you kidding me? Do you suppose you can eat 3 or 4 servings of fruit per day and control your blood glucose? Maybe you think you can eat 3 or 4 servings of bread, cereal, or pasta per day and control your blood glucose? Don't you think its time to get real? If a chronic diabetic eats the same "healthy" diet recommended by the ADA, your blood glucose would be through the ceiling.

Type 2's should never drink fruit juices and severely limit whole fruit and grain products (cereal, bread, and pasta).

More "corrections" to follow...

Ken Hampshire of CO @ Nov 13, 2009 15:03:32 PM

Answers to "myths" are mostly myths

Myth: Diabetes is not that serious.

Correction: While the ADA, to their credit, properly identified diabetes as serious, it labeled diabetes a disease rather than a disorder.

Type 2 diabetes should be more accurately called a disorder. This is a small but important distinction. Most people understand the definition of disease, and indeed part of the official definition is, a condition caused by an invading microbiological agent. None of us would hold anyone at fault who is suffering from typhus, small pox, or measles.

But diabetes is different. It isn't contagious. You don't "catch" diabetes from your neighbor walking down the sidewalk. Diabetes is nearly 100% caused by those who have it. This is not meant to point a finger, but to bring about an understanding that people with diabetes are not powerless. Far from it. We can elect to change the path diabetes takes.

If we allow ourselves to be convinced that diabetes is not our fault, we lose the only real weapon we have to combat it. Calling diabetes a disease excuses personal responsibility to change lifestyle.

Myth: Eating too much sugar causes diabetes. "Certainly, anybody will benefit from eating less sugar. . . because it is not a nutrient-dense ingredient," McLaughlin says. That said, simply eating too much sugar does not cause diabetes.

Correction: To plainly state that eating too much sugar does not cause diabetes, without calling out sugar’s role in an improper diet, is an immeasurable disservice.

More "corrections" in next post...

Ken Hampshire of CO @ Nov 13, 2009 14:46:29 PM