Comments on: Young life with diabetes

By: sasha grimm

sasha grimm — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 16:35:32 +0000

hi i am a 15 year old girl and i have had diabetes for 5 years in december 2009. i was diagnosed with diabetes at the age of 10 years old on the date of december 2004. i dont remember the exact date but i remember the month and year very clearly. my mom decided to take me to the docters because i was drinking all the time, getting up 5 or 6 times a night tto use the restroom, and i was eating all the time. but even though i was eating all the time i was still losing weight. my mom went to bring me a towel after my bath one day and saw how skinny i was...i was so skinny that you could take one look at me and see my rib cage. so she rushed me to the doctor and took blood tests and stuff. the docter came back to the room and told my mom to take me to the hospital right away because my bloodsugar was above 500. i remember my moms tears and how scared i was...i remember going for 2 years not being able to take my shots by myself, and i remember at one point telling my mom that i wished i was dead instead of living a life full of shots and illnesses...i made my mom cry that day. diabetes is scary...but i think after 5 years i finally understand how to live my life with this sickness.

By: LK

LK — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 18:15:57 +0000

All of these comments are correct–there are differences between type 1 and type 2 diabetes and there are other types of diabetes such as gestational diabetes. While the rates and the numbers continue to increase according to the CDC (there are over one million people with type 1 diabetes and another 23 million with type 2 diabetes), there is one thing everyone should know about diabetes: You can live a full-life with diabetes, no matter if it's type 1 or 2.

By: JN

JN — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 18:08:10 +0000

I wish that the article clearly stated that this child is a type 2 diabetic.

Although I have sympathy for the girl and the stress and worry that type 2 diabetes has added to her life, I think you are doing a disservice to the public in not mentioning what form of diabetes she has. This is especially hard for all of us type 1 diabetics, and the parents of children with type 1 diabetes who want the world to know that this what is described in the article is not the disease we have, and no matter how hard we work, we will never be free of this disease. If type 2 diabetics worked as hard at exercising and eating well as type 1 diabetics are required to do, they wouldn't have type 2 diabetes anymore.

By: ReeDee

ReeDee — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 19:40:38 +0000

I've read that one of the reasons for the high rate of type 2 diabetes in minorities is that we are not quite far enough away from our ancestors who were plains nomads, farmers, etc. A seditary lifestyle and overprocessed foods when we are just 3 or 4 generations from a lifestyle of gleaning, pulling a plow or walking great distances daily. We've gone from chasing down our food, eating greens, fruits and vegtables that were growing wild to a drive to the local grocery. From grinding our own wheat and corn to silky white bread... Not only does the sedatary lifestyle and processed foods lead to obesity... it leads to insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. I've been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, and it's my own fault. I've seen it coming for years. I have a daughter who at 30 had the gastric bypass to eliminate type 2 diabetes. It worked but just a little too drastic for me. With diet and exercise I have lost weight and have the sugars under control for the time being... but it could have been avoided. Most of the time, type 2 can be avoided.

By: Lauren M. Jenkins

Lauren M. Jenkins — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 11:20:32 +0000

Dr. Gupta, I think it would very helpful if you would point out the differences between Type 1 diabetes, an autoimmune disease (formerly known as juvenile onset, but can emerge at any age) and Type 2 diabetes, a far more common condition (formerly known as adult onset, but also can appear in people of any age).

Type 2 is far more common, representing 90% of all diabetes cases. Type 2 is sometimes controlled by diet alone, or with oral medications and sometimes insulin.

People with Type 1 use insulin daily, and will until there is a cure.

My son, Aidan, was diagnosed with Type 1 when he was 23 months. He is now 6 years old. He has been using an insulin pump for 4 years, and will begin using the newest technology, a Continuous Glucose Monitoring System, later this year.

By: Kyttyn Naef

Kyttyn Naef — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 19:24:59 +0000

I am an example of genetically connected diabetes: both of my maternal grandparents and my mother all have it, and so do I now, at seventeen. I only have a very mild form of type-two, so all I have to do is regulate my diet, and I can honestly say, I don't miss sugar. I don't honestly think the types of sugar in the American diet today are healthy for anyone...

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 01:00:45 +0000

Type 1 is not preventable, so therefore it gets no press. I don't think most people want/need to hear about something that is like getting struck by lightning. It just doesn't happen to most people out there. Type 2 is an epidemic, can be prevented, etc. I've had type 1 since I was 12 yr old. I will have it 30 years in August, and I'm complication-free. It's not been easy. It doesn't run in my family. Autoimmune means your body attacks you. My body did so when I got a bad case of the flu. Most people recover with no lasting issues. My flu trashed my pancreas.
Everyone has the power to choose to be healthy. I choose healthy every single day. I want an advocate to draw attention to type 1. We need someone like Lance Armstrong to do for us what he's done for cancer.

By: Elizabeth Morron

Elizabeth Morron — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 22:54:25 +0000

I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when I was 5 years old. Later this year, I will mark my 30th anniversary with diabetes. Unlike mose cases, there is no diabetes in my family. I am currently overweight, but wasn't when I was younger, mainly because I had trouble with low blood sugar when I was growing up.

There is definately a difference between the two diseases. I have often been upset by all the breakthroughs for Type 2 diabetes, but rarely are there any answers for those of us with Type 1. We've been forgotten – by society and researchers.

In spite of that fact, advances in research and technology have helped us all! I remember testing my sugar levels with urine – blood tests were only done in hospitals. When I was 10, my parents bought my first meter, and it cost $600 (insurance didn't cover it). Now we also have insuin pumps to help control our sugars. Because of these things, we can live a normal life. I have two children of my own, and have lived 30 years. When I was diagnosed in 1978, most people didn't know what diabetes was, and people with diabetes were not expected to live very long, much less have their own children.

As diabetics, we just have to thank our lucky stars that there is something to treat the disease. We don't have to like the fact that people think of us as overweight, or only know about type 2. That opens the door for us to be the teachers!

By: C Anne

C Anne — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 19:55:40 +0000

Even within the diebetic community, there is still some misinformation.
Not all Type I diabetics have the disease as a result of genetics or heredity. I developed Type 1 18 years ago (this week, in fact!), and I have no genetic predispositions within my family, nor anyone in my family with the disease, for at least the six generations I can referrence quickly. The best diagnosis the medical team could speculate was my pancreas's negative reaction to multiple medications I was prescribed at a time when I had mononuceosis and strep throat similtaneously, which, by the way, included multiple pescriptions for antibiotics. But then again, even this guess was not conclusive, but merely speculation.
The disease is too complicated to be easily pigeon-holed into a simple explanation. While sound bites like this article are helpful in raising awareness, it would serve the public better if it were balanced and more detailed.

By: Ms. NJ

Ms. NJ — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 20:35:35 +0000

I agree, it doesn't say if this person was a Type I or Type II diabetic. It's wonderful for those who are TYPE II who can read these articles and see that proper nutrition and exercise can lead to a better way of life for those who have TYPE II diabetes. TYPE I is an autoimmune disease, a hereditary autoimmune disease. People constantly say to me, "You have diabetes, you're not overweight..." It would be great to see an article or two about those of us with TYPE I, who live with insulin pumps, constant monitoring and the breaktrhoughs being made for people like us. I do commend those with TYPE II who find the healthier road, but I'd like to see an enlightening story about a person who has to manage this for life. Or what about the children who learn at an early age how to manage TYPE I diabetes, playing sports and managing to keep healthy? Now that would be something I'd love to read about. I'd just like to know that people don't perceive all types of diabetes as something you get from being overweight.