This week I am participating in the 6th annual Diabetes Blog Week. Each day there is a designated prompt that is meant to advocate about the different issues surrounding diabetes. Today’s topic is Changes. Today let's talk about changes, in one of two ways. Either tell us what you'd most like to see change about diabetes, in any way. This can be management tools, devices, medications, people's perceptions, your own feelings – anything at all that you feel could use changing. OR reflect back on some changes you or your loved one has seen or been through since being diagnosed with diabetes. Were they expected or did they surprise you?
Something that I would love to see and help change is people's perception of Type 1 Diabetes. This is something that comes up in my everyday life and is a constant discussion with my friends who also live with T1D. I feel like the general public is just genuinely confused and does not understand that there are several different types of Diabetes and there is not just one set of criteria. Recently, I was working my front office job and a friendly lady who came up and asked if I would like her leftover 2 dozen cookies because she had Diabetes and could not eat them. I politely told her I had a gluten allergy and could not eat them and then added that I also had Type 1 Diabetes, just to try and make a connection. She then began to leave and then abruptly turned around and stated, "you are pretty skinny to be diabetic". This statement always stops me in my track. Type 1 Diabetes does not care about your size, how much you exercise, or your eating habits. It comes despite how 'healthy' we may seem. It is like winning the lottery.
I would love for there to be more education on this subject. For starters, most commercials for insulin or other Diabetic products are centered around middle-aged and elderly adults who are often over weight. I would love to see an insulin pen commercial centered around a child just to break the barrier and show that this can happen to anyone. I am also committed to helping educate all people in my path that seem interested. The main goal being to show them that no one is safe from this disease. It can come at any age, any BMI, any race. No one is immune, so educating people on the symptoms and such could help save lives. Changing people's perceptions on Diabetes will help every involved.
Here are more Changes - Thursday 5/14 posts.
I bet your front desk woman has type 2 and probably isn't very educated about the differences, which always surprises me! As for the commercials, most Pharma companies don't really need to do that kind of marketing campaign to type 1 PWDs because we such a small audience. The point of those commercials is to target type 2 PWDs who aren't on insulin and need to be. There are a lot more of them than us, so the marketing dollars make more sense. I'd also wager that most people know that diabetes happens to children (type 1 was called juvenile diabetes for years), but what gets me is that some people think that they grow OUT of it! I'd love to see more advertisements featuring an adult type 1 PWD.
ReplyDeleteYes, education would be a great change
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