Tomorrow
is National Diabetes Awareness Day! Wear blue tomorrow to show your
support! I will be wearing blue and my blue circle pin and probably my
awareness ribbon too!
Jeff and I went through and tried to think of common myths.
If anyone has one that I missed, I will give you my best answer!
These are ones I found online and that I have heard myself or from someone else.
Does it hurt?
Well, yeah. I'm still human and getting shots does hurt. But I do it to keep myself alive.
Can it go away? You can cure diabetes with ________.
No, there is no cure yet. Scientists are working toward one and I think the longest "cure" has been about 2 years for Type 1. And it's not like you're totally healthy either... there's a lot of drugs to be taken and surgeries and so far diabetes still comes back. No amount of slimy okra water, cinnamon, or weight loss will do anything to cure diabetes.
I ate a lot of sugar as a kid and it caused my diabetes.
No! Actually, it was more likely that a virus like the flu or a cold triggered my body to attach my insulin producing cells. It was just a fluke and it doesn't run in my family... so there's no genetic link either.
Someone can "catch" diabetes.
Not at all! Us diabetics get sick of this and tend to get bitter and mess with people. But, no. In elementary school, a lot of kids and teachers thought that if they got near me they would catch "diabetus". I only had a few friends back then that had some common sense.
You can't eat that!
Yes, I can eat that. Even sweets! I can have what I want to a degree. There are some things that I refrain from eating because it messes with my blood sugars no matter what I do. But it's not like I will die if I eat a piece of candy. I actually have a purse full of candy for low blood sugars. The only things I really need to worry about is my weight and my cholesterol levels with the calorie and carb heavy things and if I eat a lot of carbs, I have to do more insulin, which insulin makes me gain weight.
So you have the bad kind?
There is no good or bad kind of diabetes. Diabetes is diabetes. Yeah, there are a lot of differences between the types, but no ones disease is worse than another. The disease is different for everyone.
You don’t look diabetic, you’re too skinny to be diabetic, oh honey… you’re not fat though.
This is the most common that I hear. Diabetes is not always caused by being overweight, mostly Type 1. And I had no idea there was a "look" to diabetes. Am I supposed to look sick or something? This one right here is my button. I will rant.
You can’t get pregnant or shouldn’t so the kid doesn’t get it.
A lot of women with T1D get pregnant, have a healthy and full term pregnancy, and end up with a very healthy baby. It all requires good control and everything a normal woman would get during pregnancy. I found some information about it at http://www.joslin.org/info/genetics_and_diabetes.html.
People are not unsafe drivers just because they are diabetic or just because they are on insulin. They could end up not practicing safe driving because they are UNCONTROLLED and have diabetic complications like lowered cognitive function and eyesight gets blurry.
Diabetics can't get tattoos or piercings.
I have 3 tattoos and 3 piercings on each ear plus I've had my eyebrow pierced. I took my eyebrow out because I didn't like it anymore. Nothing ever got infected. If someones blood sugars are not in control at all, I would suggest not getting one due to slower healing. It is also up to your artist if they are willing to tattoo or pierce a diabetic! Mine is awesome.
You're a druggie!
I've heard that diabetics are more likely to do drugs since we have access to syringes. This may or may not be true. I know there is a higher incidence of diabetics doing drugs due to depression of having diabetes. Depression rates are much higher in diabetics than non-diabetics. I'm not sure of the statistics of that, but I've read it before. But do not assume someone is doing drugs if they have a syringe with them! I had a few issues with people thinking I had drugs because I had a syringe fall out of my backpack or purse.
Only old people will get it.
Nope, I was diagnosed with T1 at 9 years old. Anyone at any age can develop diabetes. At older ages, T2 is more likely than T1.
Sugar substitutes give you diabetes.
The artificial sweeteners are under a lot of scrutiny recently. It seems everyone wants to blame aspartame and other sweeteners for everything. But it is not a direct trigger for diabetes.
Jeff and I went through and tried to think of common myths.
If anyone has one that I missed, I will give you my best answer!
These are ones I found online and that I have heard myself or from someone else.
Does it hurt?
Well, yeah. I'm still human and getting shots does hurt. But I do it to keep myself alive.
Can it go away? You can cure diabetes with ________.
No, there is no cure yet. Scientists are working toward one and I think the longest "cure" has been about 2 years for Type 1. And it's not like you're totally healthy either... there's a lot of drugs to be taken and surgeries and so far diabetes still comes back. No amount of slimy okra water, cinnamon, or weight loss will do anything to cure diabetes.
I ate a lot of sugar as a kid and it caused my diabetes.
No! Actually, it was more likely that a virus like the flu or a cold triggered my body to attach my insulin producing cells. It was just a fluke and it doesn't run in my family... so there's no genetic link either.
Someone can "catch" diabetes.
Not at all! Us diabetics get sick of this and tend to get bitter and mess with people. But, no. In elementary school, a lot of kids and teachers thought that if they got near me they would catch "diabetus". I only had a few friends back then that had some common sense.
You can't eat that!
Yes, I can eat that. Even sweets! I can have what I want to a degree. There are some things that I refrain from eating because it messes with my blood sugars no matter what I do. But it's not like I will die if I eat a piece of candy. I actually have a purse full of candy for low blood sugars. The only things I really need to worry about is my weight and my cholesterol levels with the calorie and carb heavy things and if I eat a lot of carbs, I have to do more insulin, which insulin makes me gain weight.
So you have the bad kind?
There is no good or bad kind of diabetes. Diabetes is diabetes. Yeah, there are a lot of differences between the types, but no ones disease is worse than another. The disease is different for everyone.
You don’t look diabetic, you’re too skinny to be diabetic, oh honey… you’re not fat though.
This is the most common that I hear. Diabetes is not always caused by being overweight, mostly Type 1. And I had no idea there was a "look" to diabetes. Am I supposed to look sick or something? This one right here is my button. I will rant.
You can’t get pregnant or shouldn’t so the kid doesn’t get it.
A lot of women with T1D get pregnant, have a healthy and full term pregnancy, and end up with a very healthy baby. It all requires good control and everything a normal woman would get during pregnancy. I found some information about it at http://www.joslin.org/info/genetics_and_diabetes.html.
[The risk for a child of a parent with type 1 diabetes is lower if it is the mother — rather than the father — who has diabetes. "If the father has it, the risk is about 1 in 10 (10 percent) that his child will develop type 1 diabetes — the same as the risk to a sibling of an affected child," Dr. Warram says. On the other hand, if the mother has type 1 diabetes and is age 25 or younger when the child is born, the risk is reduced to 1 in 25 (4 percent) and if the mother is over age 25, the risk drops to 1 in 100 — virtually the same as the average American.If one of the parents developed type 1 diabetes before age 11, their child's risk of developing type 1 diabetes is somewhat higher than these figures and lower if the parent was diagnosed after their 11th birthday.]People who are in insulin are unsafe drivers.
People are not unsafe drivers just because they are diabetic or just because they are on insulin. They could end up not practicing safe driving because they are UNCONTROLLED and have diabetic complications like lowered cognitive function and eyesight gets blurry.
Diabetics can't get tattoos or piercings.
I have 3 tattoos and 3 piercings on each ear plus I've had my eyebrow pierced. I took my eyebrow out because I didn't like it anymore. Nothing ever got infected. If someones blood sugars are not in control at all, I would suggest not getting one due to slower healing. It is also up to your artist if they are willing to tattoo or pierce a diabetic! Mine is awesome.
You're a druggie!
I've heard that diabetics are more likely to do drugs since we have access to syringes. This may or may not be true. I know there is a higher incidence of diabetics doing drugs due to depression of having diabetes. Depression rates are much higher in diabetics than non-diabetics. I'm not sure of the statistics of that, but I've read it before. But do not assume someone is doing drugs if they have a syringe with them! I had a few issues with people thinking I had drugs because I had a syringe fall out of my backpack or purse.
Only old people will get it.
Nope, I was diagnosed with T1 at 9 years old. Anyone at any age can develop diabetes. At older ages, T2 is more likely than T1.
Sugar substitutes give you diabetes.
The artificial sweeteners are under a lot of scrutiny recently. It seems everyone wants to blame aspartame and other sweeteners for everything. But it is not a direct trigger for diabetes.
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