Mother has just been diagnosed with diabetes - any info gratefully received

[Tinker]

Hi. My mother is awaiting confirmation of a diabetes diagnosis. Think it is Type 2. I really don?t know a lot about diabetes and wondered if anyone could give me any advice/info. NHS Direct site is bit tricky to get into at the moment. Many thanks

[Northerner]

Hi Tinker. My Dad was diagnosed with Diabetes type 1 a couple of weeks ago, so he is insulin dependant. We are still learning about it all but diabetes UK have a gret website. Cant remember the address off the top off my head but if you use a search engine you should find it easily.

What were her symptoms?

[Tinker]

Thanks Northerner - just looked at that, looks useful. Seems like she had the classic symptoms - thirst, needing the loo, tired and overweight. Little alarmed that it coudl be genetic

[Tinker]

Cheers ks - posts crossed before. Am at work so apologies for brief messages.

[Northerner]

KS - how long had your Dad been diagnosed. My Dad is still in the early days, and he colapsed on Monday at work, he had his first hypo. It's all very worrying especially for my Mun. I'm thinking about getting him something to wear to alert A&E people of his condition. Any ideas?

[Twink]

My dad carries a card in his wallet, ('won't catch me wearing a necklace' but we do worry that it wouldn't be seen in an emergency. My cousin has a medic alert bracelet and my brother carries his insulin pen in his shirt pocket and reckons it would be seen. They are all type 1.

Gran and uncle were type 2, both their conditions were controlled by diet and later by tablets.

Type 2 is the 'lifestyle' form that is mentioned so frequently in the media particularly in discussions about the rise in childhood obesity.

Ks, I was told that to develop type 1 you must have a particular gene present but even if you have the gene it doesn't necessarily mean you will develop it during your lifetime. I thought type 2 only tended to follow in families because of similarities in diet & lifestyle patterns.

Feel free anyone to put me right if I've been mis-informed, or more likely, that I misunderstood.

[Twink]

Also Northener, they do seem much better at getting diet/insulin levels balanced these days and accept each person is an individual far more than they used to.

As ks says, your parents will get used to seeing/feeling the symptoms which precede a hypo and will hopefully be able to react in time. My dad sometimes misses it though, especially if he is under stress. We watch out for a grey face, pale lips and more recently, talking gibberish as if he's trolleyed. The closer he is to passing out, the more he'll argue that there's nothing the matter too.

[forestfly]

My father has this type of diabetes lots of men do, and you should completely change your diet. It,s not easy making them and my father worries me about what he eats. But i know people worse than him. He will start to have regular check ups, this is comforting as they catch the early signs. This type of diabetes is also called adult onset diabetes, theres no virus to blame just genetics and what we eat. Type 1 diabetes is a result of the pancreas inability to produce insulin, where as type 2 the pancreas makes too much. Is he overweight or always hungry? I really recomend a total change in his diet. Its not just sugars he has to be carefull with. Its fats too (which is the bit i cant get through to my dad!)and excercise.

[Northerner]

Thanks Twink. I think my Mum and Dad are more aware of the signs now. But my Dad said it happenned so quickly, he didn't have time to act. I am hoping that once they get his levels stable the hypos will stop.

He has also lost so much weight he looks so gaunt. I'll tell my Mum abou the grey face though and the confusion. Thanks All.

[Tinker]

Thanks everyone for the info. Have to say I'm secretly a little glad (not the right word but...) that it's been diagnosed since I am pretty worried about her weight and what she eats. However, when I tell her, I'm nagging and met with resistance but if a doctor tells her, well, she'll listen.

Confusing though because on the one hand it says it is not caused by diet but on the other being overweight contribute. However, simply reducing weight can reverse it - for type 2 anyway. Sorry to hear about those of you dealing with Type 1, sounds much trickier

[forestfly]

Sorry tinker for thinking it was your father
The south beach diet explains loads about diabetes. Why reducing your food intake helps. It also explains about how a lot of people have prediabetes and with the wrong diet we could also trigger off full blown Type 2. It also has tons of recipes. I don't know it just made things a little clearer for me. I know what you mean about being glad though . My father lost 2 stone when he found out just by cutting out sugar. Wish he'd cut out the fish and chips now!

[Tinker]

No problem ff. Hmm, yes my mum seems to think it's the norm, after a full evening meal, to have a bag of crips and half a big Galaxy bar most nights. Can't understand if I say I don't want any because I'm full

[tamum]

Twink is right, actually, about the genetics. I found this, which might clarify:

Type 1 occurs in one of every ten people with diabetes. It has both strong and weak genetic subgroups. Genetics is important, but in most cases is not a dominant factor. When both parents have Type 1 diabetes, there is only a 20% chance that a child will get it. Most Type 1's, about 75%, have a weak or nonexistent inheritance pattern. They are often the only one in the family with Type 1 diabetes. But in about one out of four there is a strong inheritance pattern with several members of the family having the disease. A person with Type 1 will have a parent, aunt, uncle, brother or sister or two, or several cousins who have Type 1 diabetes. There seems to be little or no link between Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes.


I can't remember why I think this, but I definitely got the feeling that the genetic component was likely to be less strong if you have a relative who developed type 1 diabetes as an adult. I may well be wrong though!

[gingernut]

My dh has Tyep 2 diabetes, diagnosed at age 34 . Controlled by diet these days although he was on tablets at first. He got off the tablets by losing weight and getting fit. I am afraid the susceptibility to develop diabetes can be inherited. However dh's diabetes book says There is no really effective action other family members can take except to follow the usual health advice to keep physically active, eat a balanced diet and avoid becoming overweight.' (from Diabetes at your fingertips' by Peter Sonksen, Charles Fox and Sue Judd). You could check out the Diabetes UK website for info. I'll try and write more later, cooking dinner ATM. If you have any specific questions, ask away and I'll try to answer!

[gingernut]

Actually ks, the genetic link with Type 2 is much stronger than with Type 1.

Sorry hadn't read all the thread before and didn't realise you'd already looked at that site Tinker.

We have a great cookery book called Diabetes' (an inspired title!) by Azmina Govindji and Jill Myers (ISBN 0-00-710318-2) which has a great introduction covering healthy eating' specifically for diabetics - I'd thoroughly recommend this.

Right, I'm off to eat our (healthy of course) dinner now!

[CountessDracula]

Tinker, sorry I haven;t had time to read the other responses so sorry if I'm repeating stuff others have said.

My dad has had Type 2 diabetes for a few years. He had always had probs keeping his blood sugar level down.

When I went on the Atkins diet recently and lost lots of weight I read that it is good for diabetes and he tried it. He and his doctor are amazed at the difference it has made. He has not followed it strictly but cut down drastically on carbs which convert into sugar and his readings are consistently low.

HTH

[gingernut]

I don't know much about the Atkins diet, but people with Type 2 diabetes are supposed to follow a low fat diet because they tend to have problems with fat metabolism as well as carbohydrate metabolism. So, while it might be OK for a short while (e.g. to lose weight), I would advise speaking to a dietitian about it. I think most people are referred to a dietician soon after a diagnosis of diabetes.

[survivour]

Hi Tinker, i'm type 1, have been for almost 12years, ended up in a coma, no one in my family had it, so I didn't no what was wrong with me. I was 21years old, had aweek before my wedding, and I ended up in intensive care, and my family was told I wouldn't make it. That was my first and last time in hospital because of my diabetes. Type 1, your body does not produce insulin, so you inject it. Type 2, your body produces alittle insulin, so you either take tablets to increase your production of insulin, or you use diet and excersize to keep your blood sugar at a normal level. Diabetes uk have a bi-monthly magazine called Balance, I pay yearly, There are medic-alert bracelets, but I thought they were a little pricey. Your diabetes clinic should give you an I.D. card containing your details, they are free. As long as your mum eats healthy and excersizes, she will be fine. No crisps or Galaxy, your a diabetic, unless you have a hypo! then be my guest and go mad on the chocolate!!!! Blood sugar levels should be between 4-7mmls before food, and 7-10mmls 2 hours after eating, blood testing monitors are sold at chemists, and we don't pay V.A.T. on them. I hope this helps...........

[zippy539]

Hi Tinker - I'm not an expert but just wanted to chip in on the lifestyle/genetics debate. I got gestational diabetes when pg with dd - similar to type 2 except ypu can't take tablets because you're pregnant so I ended up injecting until she was born. Although I am TERRIFIED of needles ('pen' my arse - it's a NEEDLE!!!) the diagnosis was the best thing to happen to me ever. As well as taking insulin I had to overhaul my diet and regulate meal times and as a result came out of the pregnancy only 4lbs heavier than when I started (though I should stress that I was still three stone over-weight - dd was obviously growing quite happily on my ample fat reserves.. )

GD usually diappears after the baby is born, but the consultant has told me that I stand a significantly increased risk of developing type 2 in the future. He said this was because of the strong genetic component to type two. However, he also stressed but that I could totally alter the odds by maintaining a healthy weight and eating the right stuff. Four months later, spurred on by fear of developing type 2, I've lost a stone and a half and feel FANTASTIC! DH has also lost nearly two stone. It's still early days but we are so chuffed with ourselves it is unbearable. Of course, I could still develop type two despite my efforts but I'm doing what I can. Also, in my case weight loss = confidence gain, so I now feel in a better position to handle a diabetes diagnosis , if it comes.

I think what I want to say is that a type two diabetes diagnosis can be a positive thing. There are hundreds of thousands of people wandering around with undiagnosed type two who risk damaging themselves through ignorance - but with a diagnosis your mother can take action and maybe end up even healthier than before ( reducing the risk of heart disease etc in the process). Also. if you realise that you have a high genetic risk of diabetes (because of a relative's diagnosis) you can take action in advance - and might even end up with a lower risk factor than the general population. I don't mean to minimize the trauma of a type two diagnosis for anyone - it IS scary, I just want to put a positive spin on it.

Last thing - I read somewhere that it is the eldest sibling in any family who runs the highest risk of developing type two - due to increased parental pressures etc. Anyone else heard this? Thinking about it, everyone I know with type 2 is an older child. Perhaps this means it is actually healthy to leave your stressed out eldest child to relax in front of the telly for hours on end while you go on mumsnet... hmmmmm.

[Tinker]

Wow, thanks again everyone for all the messages. For those who have changed your diet, how exactly have you done this? Just cutting out crap in general or following a specific regime? I'm not overly worried about myself since I now know I have a higher risk of it and my diet is not, generally, that crap. Mostly.

Re: the eldest being more prone to it, my mum was the 7th child (although, of course, some of the older ones may have had it). I'm the 3rd and didn't get it when pregnant so not so clear cut.

Thanks again though

[Cam]

Sorry to hear about your mum, Tinker, my elder brother was diagnosed with type 2 a couple of years ago. Interestingly, he fits exactly into zippy's first-born, stressed out, pressured scenario.

[gingernut]

Tinker, best advice on diet and lifestyle at the moment (based on what I've read in medical textbboks and Diabetes UK's literature) would be:

Avoid becoming overweight (aim for body mass index of less than 25).

Eat a low-fat, high carbohydrate diet. My dh's dietitian's advice was to follow the guide of imagining your plate is divided into different sections. The meat part of your meal should take up no more than a quarter of your plate and the rest should be half staple and half vegetables. Things like cakes and biscuits should really be only eaten as an occasional treat

Try to stay reasonably fit.

Apart from this, I'd say just be aware of the symptoms of diabetes so you can get treatment early on if it does develop. For my dh it was thirst. It's thought that lots of people develop Type 2 diabetes many years before they are diagnosed, because the symptoms develop gradually, and during this time of course lots of damage to nerves, eyesight etc. can occur.

After dh's diagnosis, he was put straight onto tablets (metformin), but in the first 6 months he managed to lose 2.5 stone by dieting and exercising (taking him from BMI of 27 to BMI of 24) and after he'd lost the weight he was able to come off the pills and now he just has to be careful with his diet. I'm not saying everyone would see such a huge improvement just by losing weight, or indeed would avoid developing diabetes by not becoming overweight in the first place. But it can make a lot of difference.

Hope your mother is doing OK and not finding the diagnosis too overwhelming. I felt quite depressed at first, to think that dh had such a serious health problem (it didn't seem to bother him though!). Now I feel OK about it because he is controlling it so well and there's a lot of research going on into new treatments. This could be important for him because we've been told that he may well need to go back onto medication as he gets older as it's a progressive disease.

HTH.