Diabetes

Free

E-Newsletters

Subscribe to receive the latest updates on health topics. About our newsletters

• Housecall
• Alzheimer's caregiving
• Living with cancer

• July 23, 2009 1:45 p.m.

  My husband has type 1 and has just gone on a pump. He loves it! I am an R.N. and am appalled by the misconceptions of healthcare workers. A patient on an insulin pump was always so foreign until now. A patient with diabetes has almost always been over or under treated in the hospital setting due to a lack of comfort level by the staff. This is so very unfortunate. There needs to be so much more education out there - not just for patients, families and healthcare workers but for the public in general. Where to start......???

  - Jeanne

• July 23, 2009 1:42 p.m.

  Something I was told by doctors is that type 1 diabetes is not hereditary ( and I've heard other times it is). I work with a nurse who is a twin and he and his brother were diagnosed with type 1 diabetes within 6 months of one another. Also - to address Rhonda, I am a nurse in a hospital and I have run into many situations where doctors other than endocrinologists do not address the diabetes issue correctly always. However, it may be your approach that puts others ill at ease - you come across as very angry and you can make others respond in kind. Perhaps you were as pleasant as anyone could be and that's good, that's the way to handle these types of situations. Not everyone knows everything and even though it can be appalling at times it's important to handle yourself with grace as well as with authority. When you come off as angry you end up being ineffective.

  - sheila

• July 23, 2009 12:52 p.m.

  The one about carbohydrates makes me insane. I get told all the time by ignoramuses that I "shouldn't eat carbohydrates" at all, because I'm diabetic. Why is it that if less is good people assume none is best? And if more is good, then consuming vats must be better. The right amount is the right amount!

  - Willem

• July 23, 2009 11:42 a.m.

  Here is a myth I experienced in an ICU after my insulin pump mis-delivered insulin during the night and I awoke on the verge of DKA one morning. Myth #1: Healthcare workers (RN's & doctors) outside the scope of Endocrinology don't have a clear grasp of the 3 HOUR WINDOW it takes for insulin pumpers (pumps use short acting insulin only) and the time it takes Diabetics using insulin injection therapy (long acting and short acting insulins) to reach the state of DKA. I find it frustrating to be berated by hospital staff when it is they who do not have a clear grasp of 1) the different types of insulin therapy 2) the different types of insulins (long, medium and fast acting) 3)unwilling to accept simple informative information on this subject. It is unfortunate that Diabetes in general is very misunderstood even by the healthcare workers. I really isn't just as easy as watch your diet, check your blood sugar, take your insulin and assume that nothing bad will happen. Nobody can control everything all of the time, every day of the week all the days of the year forever; not the Diabetics or the Diabetes Educators or hospital staff. Thank you for listening

  - rhonda

• July 23, 2009 11:30 a.m.

  The half-truth that all Type II are overweight and they need to lose weight. 2 1/2 years ago I was diagnosed with Type II diabetes. I'm 4’ 9in and weigh 105 pds. High-blood pressure runs in my family so a number of years before I was diagnosed I got rid of processed foods, was eating lots of fruit, veggies, fiber and was exercising regularly. My high glucose levels were caught when I did a blood test for a health program my job was offering. My Dr and I were not actively monitoring for diabetes outside of yearly physicals because it doesn’t run in my family. I'm living proof that not all Type II are overweight and/or have unhealthily eating habits.

  - Kendria

• July 23, 2009 11:05 a.m.

  I'm Type II (364 / 13.6 A1C) disagnosed two months ago...although suspected for some time. A complete change in diet (lots of small meals and good ones from all of the magazines with recipes - strongly suggest this) along with oral meds are hopefully assisting. I have more blood taken this afternoon to test. Want to warn all about the potential for neuropothy (which I have in my foot and lower leg) from NOT catching this and seeing a doctor about it. I hope that additional feeling returns as on meds for this as well as supplements. Have to say the diabetic socks are great as well. All to address what I deal with...but not fix it. Five years between doctor visists and look where I stand now because of this. A lesson for anyone....?

  - Chris

• July 23, 2009 11:04 a.m.

  I was diagnosed with Type II five years ago. I took off 60 lbs and got my A1c down to 5.8 and managed to control my blood glucose levels with diet, exercise, and medication. Then even though I only had 10-20 carbs and 300-500 cals/meal my blood glucose levels skyrocketed. My pancreas failed. I ASKED to be put on insulin. Since then I have managed to stay in tight control; kept the weight off; exercise regularly; and last A1C reading ws 5.7. I resisted going on insulin but am now glad I did!!

  - Carol

• July 23, 2009 10:52 a.m.

  I wish that people would understand that type II is not a given if family members have it. Also, the general population needs to be educated to have an A1c every year. If caught early, a slightly elevated blood sugar can be brought back down to normal with diet modifications and exercise and not be a "life sentence." One last thing, my daughter developed type I at 12 years of age. So many people blamed her. I have spent years educating those around me about the truth of type I, fighting discrimination at school, and counseling friends and family with type II about better control. Complications can be avoided if the persons affected with this prevalent disease would put in some real effort to changing their lifestyles. Meds are not the only answer! A truly healthy lifestyle is the answer.

  - trish

• July 23, 2009 10:36 a.m.

  I read an AP story today that talked about Type 2 diabetes related to over-weight people. I've been Type 2 for five years. I was a competitive runner, in good health but diabetes runs through my family history. Weight may be a factor but it's only a factor.

  - Steve

• July 23, 2009 10:30 a.m.

  Oh, I just read the first part where it says you'll post the others next week. I should never post before my first coffee! by the way, I'm a type 1 with significant resistance as well (type 2). I hear that the difference between the types is kind of blurry and there is rather a range going from extreme insulin resistance to complete insulin dependence. I find that that carb restriction, not elimination, helps control. Especially when I'm particularly resistant to insulin and have to inject a lot.

  - kevin

• July 23, 2009 10:24 a.m.

  Where are the other 6 of 10? I only saw 4. thanks

  - kevin

• July 17, 2009 10:42 p.m.

  When my doctor said I was diabetic, I was shocked! But, as my mother and both grandmothers had it, I shouldn't have been. However, it was the best thing that happened to be, she sent me to diabetic classes and I lost 30 lbs. and began a serious exercise program - luckily for me, it was early in the disease. So far, watching what I eat, exercising and testing my blood every day is working. You can't "cheat" on your food when you see your readings everyday.

  - Sally S.

• July 16, 2009 7:45 p.m.

  Please be careful to discriminate between Type I and Type II diabetes: Type I is an auto-immune disease in which the pancreas ceases it's production of the hormone insulin. It is not tied to heredity. Type II is a lifestyle/hereditary imbalance in the intake and output of calories, making the insulin produced insufficient to cover the glucose present in the bloodstream. Type II sufferers should reduce the number of calories in their daily diet, exercise sufficiently to metabolize those calories, and avoid high fat, processed foods and eat foods high in fiber, (primarily fruits, vegetables, nuts, whole grains) and no bottled beverages....diet or not! The biggest diabetes myth is that Type II diabetes cannot be controlled with SELF control !!!! My 18 year old son is a Type I diabetic and is in excellent control. Type II diabetes is epidemic on my mother's side of the family, but at 54 years, I am at 5'5" tall, 120 pounds, walk to and from work (2 miles) each day and practice Bikram Yoga 3X a week and have a great A1C, blood cholesterol, and blood pressure. I can't tell you how important it is to give up fast and processed food; the stuff is killing us. Buy whole foods only and restrict meat. Type II diabetes is NOT a life sentence !

  - Jane Lawson

• July 16, 2009 12:21 p.m.

  a diabetes myth I've grown up with is if your mother has diabetes you are more likely to get it than if your father has it. On my fathers side, his father was married twice. The first family did not have diabetes; the family with the second wife all had diabetes (all eight children). Is this a myth or not?

  - walt kendzior

• July 15, 2009 3:46 p.m.

  So far, with diet and exercise, I've managed to take off 20 lbs and get off glyburide. I'm still not perfectly controlled and need to lose at least 10 lbs more to be where my doctor and I want me to be. I found it almost impossible to lose weight while taking the meds, but once off the meds, it came off quickly. I walk at least a mile 5 days an week, water aerobics 2 days and chair aerobics 2 days. I'm 75 and take meds for blood pressure (still not well controlled) and cholesterol (under good control). Why would going off glyburide make it easier for me to lose weight? My goal this year is to get off as much medication as possible. Control all these factors that affect diabetes before you have to take medication; it gets a lot tougher after that.

  - Fay Brown

• July 15, 2009 10:00 a.m.

  -cyn You have brought up a good point! I agree.

  - Nancy and Peggy

• July 15, 2009 9:58 a.m.

  FL, Those noninvasive infared light blood glucose monitors sure sound great. I've done a little research on this and it appears that these monitors are still in the research development stage. No such device has been approved for marketing by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Sorry

  - Nancy

• July 15, 2009 2:33 a.m.

  As a physician working in Europe, I can attest to the fact that these first five myths span continents. I have seen patients in the past week who have told me at least one of these myths! Great to see that the Mayo Clinic is educating the world!

  - Mary

• July 14, 2009 9:01 p.m.

  Have had Type 2 for abt 2 1/2 yrs now and am under good control. Also hate the fat and lazy epithet. I was fat al right...and stressed...from being a workaholic. Now that I have retired I have lost heaps of weight but am still overweight despite lots of healthy eating and going to the gym 3x week, pool some other days, and walking. Also found that 'everybody' on my Dad's side eventually ended up with Type 2 and my mother has it too.

  - Ellen

• July 14, 2009 5:29 p.m.

  I wish you would include as one of the myths: only fat and lazy people get diabetes. Everyone thinks that...and immediately assumes you have an unhealthy lifestyle if you develop diabetes. How about 3 generations before you - doesn't that affect the chances you'll get it?

  - cyn

• July 13, 2009 11:24 a.m.

  Nancy, Where can I secure an infrared light monitor to measure blood sugar, like the one you mentioned in The Essential Diabetes Book (chapter 2, page 36)? Thank you

  - FL