Type 1 Diabetes is NOT the same of Type 2!! It is a SERIOUS medical condition and is NOT caused by lifestyle!

[TIDMum]

Just had the Sky guy here to upgrade internet speed and he asked about DS's glucose monitor alarm going off so I said he's a Type 1 diabetic. He was asking if it was a care alarm then said 'oh so not that serious, just for the blood sugar reading'.

He then said that his wife was Type 1 and we had a little discussion about her GM and what type of insulin pump she's on (which she doesn't actually have!) and he then said 'I blame diet and alcopops really'.

It then became clear his wife was Type 2.

I said 'oh right, I blame COVID actually because you know it's an autoimmune disorder?' He said 'oh right' then was quiet while he finished his work.

DS (age 16) heard this as he was walking past.

DS said he's an idiot but this really annoys me.

I can't count how many times over the last 4 years since his diagnosis, people have started talking to me about their sister, aunt or neighbour having 'Type 1' when it's actually Type 2 they're talking about. He had the teasing at school about too much sugar as well.

I really think if you don't know what Type 1 diabetes, shut up and don't talk about it tbh.

AIBU to get pissed off about this? I can't think of any other serious medical conditions that are mistaken like this.

I agree I have psoriatic arthritis and people.say oh like osteoarthritis no lol it's like inflammatory arthritis it's my immune system attacking my joints it's so annoying like oh yeah I get that in my knee NO U DONT hahahahaha it's just ignorance alot of the time .
I am currently in a bad flare and my dad will say oh yeah I'm stiff today 😁

No sorry, the treatment is not the same, and the concerns are not the same.

Every menopausal woman with a history of PCOS thanks you for your ignorance OP.

Oh, and my son has a highly volatile life threatening and life limiting condition, and is severely disabled.

As the old saying goes, walk a mile in someone else's shoes. For all you know, the guy could have a kid dying of leukemia or something.

I am so sorry to hear that your daughter passed away. That is inordinately sad. xx

Yes a friend of mine has type 1 diabetes and got bullied in school over it. She also had some nasty comments from teachers and extended family members. It has made a stressful scary time for her and her parents a million times worse.

Some people hear diabetes and think bad diet automatically. It is so unfair.

A lot of people are not health professionals.
We genuinely don't know unless you tell us.
Then we get called ignorant.
Do you expect everyone in the world to have extensive knowledge about every illness / disease / disability?
We don't.

I mean so called in the sense that that is what they named it.
Yes it's serious, but it's also preventable and can be put into remission by better life choices for many people, which is very different to type 1.

To add to this - given that 2/3 of British adults are overweight or obese but those with type 2 diabetes amount to less than 10%, why pick on those who are unfortunate enough to develop it? What you’re blaming them for is having the genes which predispose them to type 2 diabetes, whereas 8 or 9 other people with same lifestyle don’t get it.

And given that overweight and obesity are now the norm, how about dropping the idea that they are the result of personal choice, lack of discipline etc, and look more closely at the changes in lifestyle which have taken place over the past 50 years. Especially the food….

Completely get where you’re coming from OP, & that’s as someone who had gestational diabetes and gets recalled every year for a diabetes test.

T1 is a relatively rare autoimmune disease and cannot be cured, and difficult to manage. T2 is a very common metabolic disorder that most people will get if they live long enough, and for those who acquire it earlier in life, it’s usually able to be put into remission. The experience of sufferers is usually not remotely alike.

TYPE 2 IS NOT CAUSED BY LIFESTYLE

THERE ARE MANY FACTORS FOR MANY PEOPLE AND LIFESTYLE OFTEN IS NOT ONE OF THEM

SEEMS OP ALSO NEEDS EDUCATING

It's not a competition. It's never a competition. It doesn't really matter whether your type is worse or whatever. What one person struggles to manage, another finds easier and visa versa.

Yes, friend's husband, tall strip of wind, very fit and Munro bagger had Type 2 from a fairly early age, as did his mother who must have weighed 6 stone soaking wet and was very into a healthy diet.

So many people judge and even if it is due to lifestyle, why the sneering? There is a cause for eveything, genetic or otherwise, too many for accurate judgement.

Plenty of people with type two have led very healthy lifestyles for many decades.
I don't see why you can't just say 'no, type one is where you're born with it. Type two can be affected by lifestyle.' Then move the conversation on.

They're both diabetes and this poor IT guy was just making polite conversation and trying to find common ground. He was wrong but meant no harm and it would take a second to correct him.

Things must have been much worse before the internet and smartphones when type two began to increase. The misconception as you can see takes a long time to trickle down to everyone.

You can be safe in the knowledge that no matter what anyone says, you did not feed your child the wrong food and make them have diabetes. Not that it's ever that simple.

But it seems almost like you have contempt for sufferers of type 2. Diabetes of any type as you know is horrible and deserves empathy, not anger. It's not a competition for who 'deserves' an insulin disorder more or less.

You’re not born with Type 1 diabetes

Sympathy for you, OP, from the first page of comments I think you're getting a hard time here.

I think it's a shame people are ignorant about diabetes.

Personally, I do think people who have health issues which were caused by factors over which they have never had any control deserve a greater degree of sympathy than those where lifestyles choices are a factor. They certainly don't deserve people making assumptions that they caused their own issues in some way!

The only comment I would make is that sometimes Type 2 is not entirely lifestyle dependent. I have PCOS and am at higher risk of Type 2, made even higher by having gestational diabetes during pregnancy. I have maintained a healthy weight, have a reasonable diet and managed GD via diet - but it still might "get me" one day. There are some health issues that do affect insulin sensitivity, unfortunately, but I fully appreciate that - even if that is the underlying cause - Type 2 can still be managed via diet in many cases, whereas Type 1 needs insulin regardless.

I get it. I’m T1. I used to try and gently educate. No more. A taxi driver told me the other day that he was really into nutrition, did I know that if I fasted 4/7 days and just drank apple cider vinegar 3/7 days I’d cure it. Now I just tell people they’re talking crap and maybe want to invest some energy into reading proper research issued by healthcare professionals.

Too many of the public watch a TikTok video and think it’s accurate and they’re now experts.

All Diabetes is serious. And yes, T1 when things go wrong can be life threatening very quickly (have had a few near misses myself).

sometimes people just talk rubbish.

Well said

It’s not worth getting worked up about. You absolutely ARE being judgemental, even if you think you aren’t. You don’t want people to think your son got diabetes through bad diet. That would be a reflection on you. If the person is someone you and your son interact with on a regular basis, give them the correct information. Anyone else, just let them run on. They don’t matter.

My youngest was diagnosed with IBD (Crohn’s Disease) and many many people have compared it with their IBS. I just put them straight, very politely and succinctly, on the difference before they get too far down the road of suggesting changes to his diet because I’m a bit bored of that conversation. Some people with IBD have sensitivities to certain foods, but they tend to be very random as opposed to the usual suspects. He’s on a biologic and it has kept the disease well under control. Generally, I don’t care that other people don’t know the in’s and out’s of IBD because I knew bugger all myself before it came to my door.

Why should I not be bothered that the Sky guy seemed to think my kid was downing alcopops and had a poor diet as the cause of his diabetes?

Because he’s just the Sky guy and he’s irrelevant to your son’s life. It doesn’t matter whether he is educated about type 1 diabetes or not. It matters that your son and you are educated about it. If someone in the Sky guys life gets type 1, he may swiftly learn….or not. You need to learn to not be bothered by random peoples lack of education/ignorance on a topic. You tried to tell him a little about it, he probably wasn’t interested and doesn’t understand. Loads of people make uneducated or worse, deliberately offensive comments about a range of medical conditions from diabetes to autism to obesity. You can try to correct them, but sometimes, if it’s just a random person you’re unlikely to see again, it’s not worth worrying about.

I’d be more worried if he didn’t know how to do his job that he was in my home to do!

I hope your son’s condition is being managed well and that he is ok. I know a child who had this from age 6 and he and his family said it got easier as he became older so I hope this is the case for your son.

I’m snorting here. Our practice nurse, who knows me and has access to my records, actually said on the phone I was fat (yes she used the f word) and to lose weight. I’m about 3lb away from being underweight. My trousers keep falling down and they’re tiny. I have no body fat and I have tried but can’t put weight on at all (and that is a problem for me). Some people including HCPs are just full of crap.

Oh sorry I thought you were. I guess OP knows the best words to use to describe how it's different from 2.

My aunt is a diabetes specialist nurse and she always used to be horrible about fat people but since studying diabetes properly she is actually the first person to shout about the fact it is a gross misrepresentation to imply that it's just overweight/unhealthy people that get T2 . She has loads of patients with T2 (and all the other various types) who live healthy lives

Also even if it were caused solely by being overweight that really isn't a reason to malign people . Weight gain can be caused by all sorts of things

• antidepressants (which doctors dish out like candy then wonder why we have an obesity problem)
• steroids (my goodness I ballooned on steroids having been skinny my whole life)
• a trauma response (my response to trauma was to be anorexic but others over eat, I fail to see why one is met with empathy and the other with disgust)
• metabolic/hormonal problems

I hate the idea that some illnesses are somehow more deserving of sympathy that others

You're are absolutely correct to be annoyed by this confusion. Perhaps it is time to rename them 'natural' diabetes and 'lifestyle' diabetes to make the difference clear. (I'm being a bit tongue in cheek!) However it maybe that they do need to rename them to help demonstrate the difference between them.
I have ME/CFS and get frustrated when people misunderstand it or just refer to it as chronic fatigue (which is a symptom rather than condition!)

Type I diabetes and Type 2 diabetes are both increasing worldwide due to environmental and lifestyle changes.

Early infant and childhood diet plays a key role in influencing the risk of developing Type 1 diabetes and managing early stage autoimmunity.

You're unreasonable to dismiss all type 2 diabetics as people who brought it on themselves through lifestyle choices. Plenty of type 2 people are not overweight and eat healthily yet still have it. Yes, it can be caused by lifestyle issues but judging other people based on their illnesses is a bit low.
Was the Sky guy an idiot? Yes. He was also unreasonable. People make stupid comments about other people's illnesses all the time not just diabetics. It's very annoying. But it doesn't have to become a game of one upmanship and my illness is superior to yours.
I've got a dairy allergy, people almost always respond with tales of their friends/relatives lactose intolerance. Both my kids are lactose intolerant. It's not lesser but it's different. I even had an NHS dietician try to tell me I was confused about having an allergy and was probably lactose intolerance. There are ignorant people everywhere. We don't have to join them.