Time For a Change.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/health/ct-met-diabetes-rift-20101122-story.html

“I’m sorry, but I hate Type 2. I call it the wuss version,”

Often I’m faced with those who are uneducated about diabetes and they will ignorantly suggest; “Couldn’t you just “cure yourself” if you ate better and exercised?” Nothing frustrates me more than these confrontations.

The truth is, as much as it frustrates Type 2 Diabetics for us to say it, they have it easy. They’re the ones who could “cure” themselves by being more healthy. Their choices led to their health issues.

Type 1 Diabetics, in contrast, have no choice. We can’t avoid it. Before being diagnosed I was playing competitive soccer and I had eliminated excess sugar from my diet for a year and a half. Then I received my diagnosis. Many Type 1 Diabetics have similar situations to mine.

Type 1s will depend on injections of the hormone insulin in order to live the rest of their live’s. Type 2s need no medication if they make lifestyle changes like diet and exercise, oral medication if they do not, and only if they choose be extremely irresponsible do they need hormone injections, if they then make those health changes; they can go off injections.

It’s time for a change, a change of names.

Type 1 Diabetes funding is practically nonexistent because Type 2 is much more prevalent and people who donate often assume that their money goes to researching both diseases. According to Riva Greenburg, a diabetes educator; “When the two types are lumped together, it’s hard for organisations committed to finding a cure to Type 1 to really get funded… If policymakers don’t understand the difference between the two — they are thinking people need to move more and eat less — it’s going to be hard to help cure Type 1.”

The word “diabetes” refers to sugar in the urine. This, and the hormone insulin’s involvement, are where the similarities between the two diseases end.

A name change would lead to an increase in understanding of Type 1 Diabetes.

Type 1, which is devastating, it is an autoimmune disorder; the body has attacked itself and permanently destroyed the cells in the pancreas that make insulin. Insulin is needed to transport sugar into the cells where it can be metabolized and used for energy. If too much sugar (or glucose) stays in the blood, it can lead to serious damage to the tissues, eyes, nerves, heart, gums and teeth.

Type 1 Diabetes is a disorder that  desperately needs more attention. Although a lower percent of the population is effected, those who are, are in dire need of a cure. I need a cure.

Should there be a change? Would it increase understanding of Type 1 Diabetes? What would you call it?