Whenever I talk or write about being a diabetic, I feel obligated to clarify that in terms of autoimmune diseases, I got off lucky. And if I’m being honest, I only have three major complaints about being being a diabetic.
The first complaint is that I’m not able to serve in the military, while the second is that I’m unable to donate blood. Finally, my third major complaint is that most people don’t know anything about diabetes.
Or worse, they have infuriating misconceptions about what it means to be diabetic. But unlike my other two major complaints about being diabetic, I can actually do something about these misconceptions. With that said, here are five things you should know about diabetes.
1. There Are Two Types of Diabetes
Thanks for the visual aid, Count. Technically, there are three types if you include gestational diabetes, but that’s usually a temporary condition. Most of the time, any diabetic you meet will be either a Type 1 diabetic or a Type 2 diabetic. Type 1 Diabetes is when your immune system goes haywire and destroys the beta cells in your pancreas. These beta cells produce insulin, which regulates the glucose from any food or drink you consume. Without insulin, you will suffer a slow, agonizing death. This why Type 1 diabetics like myself have to rely on either insulin injections or an insulin pump to stay alive.
2. Most Diabetics Are Type 2 Diabetics
If someone tells you that they are diabetic, they most likely have Type 2 Diabetes. Unlike Type 1 Diabetes, Type 2 is not caused by your immune system going haywire and destroying your insulin-producing beta cells. Instead, Type 2 Diabetes is mostly caused by a poor diet and lack of physical activity, which results in your body becoming resistant to insulin, not deprived of it. Type 2 Diabetes is usually treated with dieting, exercise, and pills instead of insulin injections or an insulin pump.
3. Type 1 Diabetics Have It Tougher Than Type 2 Diabetics
I’m not going to sugarcoat this (pun intended): I don’t like Type 2 diabetics. Or more accurately, I don’t like the fact that Type 1 diabetics are often put in the same category as Type 2 diabetics. The best way I can describe my frustration is that Type 1 Diabetes is when your immune system shoots you in the pancreas. Type 2 Diabetes, on the other hand, is when you shoot yourself in the pancreas, but you only graze it and you don’t suffer nearly as many consequences as Type 1 diabetics. It drives me mad when people tell me, “Oh you’re diabetic? My *insert friend or family member* is too.” Nine times out of ten, their friend or family member is a Type 2 diabetic, not a Type 1 like me. I realize this sounds like semantics, but I’m a diabetic because my immune system went haywire, not because I ate one too many deep-fried Twinkies.
4. Type 1 Diabetics Can Eat Whatever They Want
Unlike Type 2 diabetes, Type 1 diabetes can't be treated with dieting. While this makes Type 1 diabetes objectively more difficult to treat than Type 2 diabetes, it means that I can eat whatever I want, as long as I have enough insulin. Unfortunately, the common misconception that all diabetics can’t eat anything with sugar causes some friends and classmates to give me concerned looks whenever I eat a candy bar.
5. If You Have A Question About Diabetes, Just Ask
I realize that I’m coming off as extremely bitter in this article. And if I’m being honest, I’m occasionally just a bitter person in general. But at the end of the day, I’d rather have someone ask me a question about diabetes than let them continue through life with either no knowledge of the disease or a flawed understanding of it. I’m obviously not a medical professional, but you could say that I’ve been doing an independent study on diabetes for most of my life.
