Blanket Term "Diabetes" + Shout-Out To My Mum

So I've noticed lately that along with the misconceptions that people have about type 1 diabetes, I often hear alot of people just using the blanket term diabetes in circumstances where they should really be referring to the specific types. A perfect example of this is a couple weeks ago on CBC radio. There was this naturopath doctor talking all about different steps you can take to "prevent diabetes". Now obviously type 1 diabetes in not preventable and this sort of general term leads people to the conclusion that all diabetes is the same. It doesn't help to correct the misconceptions that people already have about T1D. People automatically assume nowadays that it was because I had too much sugar or that I just sat around lazily all day (this isn't necessarily the case for why people get type 2 either). Another problem is that type 1 only comprises 10% of the diabetic population meaning that people just aren't as knowledgeable about the condition. I've met some people who are completely ignorant about the fact that there is more than one kind of diabetes in the first place. I really feel like there needs to be more education out there about type 1 diabetes so that we don't get lost in the shuffle of type 2. Everyone needs to know more about this condition because it is a serious problem.

Anyway, back to the story. This lady just continued on about how you can prevent and reverse diabetes and finally my mum had just gotten sick of it. She phoned into the CBC when they asked for questions, and no word of a lie, she told this woman off.......on air. I believe she said something along these lines,

"You cannot just use the term diabetes like that. There are two different kinds of diabetes and type 1 is not preventable. I have a newly diagnosed type 1 daughter and there was nothing we could have done to stop her from getting this disease. You have to specify between the two because they are so different. You can't just generalize it like that."

Go mum!

p.s The photo above is also not to stereotype type 2 diabetics either. I know there are type 2's that are of perfectly normal weight range. I just thought the photo was funny.

I thought this pitcture here was a great and simple way to explain type 1 vs. type 2.