Those of you with type 1 (insulin dependent) diabetes: has the epidemic of type 2 diabetes “annoyed” you in the way that people don’t seem to take your disease as serious as they once did? I read somewhere that there has been an attempt to rename type 1 to reduce confusion.
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My wife is type 1 and the type 2 epidemic doesn’t really bother her.
I’m not bothered by T2s. It’s a real problem. Some peeps are very ill because of T2.
My disease is different, though.
We all have our crosses to bear.
Imagine how the poor diabetes insipidus folks feel.
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I’ve had Type 1 since I was 3, about 38 years now. My fiance of 4 1/2 years passed away from complications of her Type 1. My sister has poor control of her Type 1 with some serious complications. I call Type 2 “Diabetes Lite”, so I’ve already done some renaming – as far as I’m concerned no more renaming is needed. 
That is actually very offensive.
I sure wouldn’t call Type 2 “diabetes lite.” In a lot of ways I think it’s more difficult than type 1. Sure, you CAN (sometimes) control it through diet & exercise, but to say that an entire lifestyle change is easier than injecting insulin is not the easier choice IMO.
That said, I do wish the names weren’t so similar. Even members of my own family have said really stupid things to me - “you ate too much candy as a kid!” Heck, that’s even stupid for Type 2s. Overall I just wish there was more knowledge around the differences between the two. I’m sick of explaining to folks that there’s nothing I can do that will make it so I don’t have to rely on insulin to stay alive.
There is a lot of blame heaped on T2s. If they lose weight and reduce or eliminate the need for medication, people mistakenly (or ignorantly) say they are “cured.” T2 is a metabolic disorder, and there is no cure.
The same individual, after months or even years of managing with no meds might have the HbA1c creep upwards. Medication may be needed then. This isn’t a failure or a moral weakness, it’s the progressive nature of the disease.
Eventually, the T2 may need insulin. That doesn’t mean they have “turned into” T1. They are simply a T2 now needing insulin.
Both T1 and T2 are diseases which have a problem with high blood sugar. One is not more serious than the other. There are parts of the body which can be damaged by high blood sugar: kidneys, eyes, peripheral nerves, blood vessels.
Diabetes, any flavor, is a mean, nasty, destructive disease. It can be managed, it can be treated, and it damn well needs to be respected!
~VOW
Yeah, there’s no cure for type 2, but in by far most cases, you can entirely prevent it. There’s a reason why type 2 was virtually non-existent before, say, 1970 (if not later - I’m trying to be generous, here). As much as it sucks to hear, almost everyone can prevent it, and many can get it to a more manageable level simply by eating better.
I don’t have diabetes at all, but I 100% support calling type 2 ‘diabetes light’, regardless of whose feelings it hurts. I’m not saying people with type 2 aren’t suffering, or that they don’t deserve treatment or any bullshit like that. Just being practical. When it becomes the most disasterous is when it’s completely ignored, whereas you never have that chance with type 1.
That is a massive step off a very high cliff you are taking with that line you can entirely prevent it. I know you are referring to the obesity epidemic, but there are other factors at play.
There is a tremendous genetic component contributing to T2. There are also racial factors at play. But using your date of 1970, people were not routinely monitored for Diabetes, unless they presented overt symptoms. Many T2s were not diagnosed until after that first heart attack.
People younger than 35 were not screened for high blood pressure. Nobody looked for elevated cholesterol.
I’ll finish by saying your oblique criticism is not constructive. It would be just as rude if you were to walk up to an overwright person and say, “You know what? You’re fat.” Chances are, that person already knows it.
~VOW
T2D was NOT nonexistent before 1970. Granted, it probably wasn’t as common, but whenever you hear something about “half of people with diabetes don’t know it”, this is what they have. For a long time, I wondered how someone could be diabetic and not know it, and while that’s true of people with T1D, that’s not often the case with T2D because it usually has a gradual onset and causes all kinds of damage to the body before it’s diagnosed and treated.
In addition, there are many subtypes of both which makes things even more confusing.
This was DEFINITELY true for gestational diabetes! Remember those 10-pound babies of past generations? They were probably born to mothers who had GD AND DID NOT KNOW IT.