Diabetes: Just how dangerous is it?

[ben280489]

very...........................................

[Rupert_Baehr]

... in at least the last 10 yrs of her life she did all she could, even when her diebetes was "under control"

I felt the need to post this as some have said things along the lines of if people are sensible and do as the dr's say then they will probably be ok. Not all that have the worst outcome act like slobs or ignore important advice, some are just unlucky and I guess as it's differant for each person that has diabetes then it comes in differnt strengths or levels of aggresiveness.

 

Indeed. Diabetes varies from person to person and it isn't constant in any one person. - Constant change is here to stay. You mentioned the comments about following the docor's advice. - The word 'probably' is important. There are no guarantees and sometimes even following the advice isn't enough.

 

I think it can depend on whether its type 1 (insulin dependant) or type two which can be managed a little more with diet etc.

 

A lad who was in my class at school fell into a diabetic coma and died at the age of about 16, so yeah it can be pretty serious. He was insulin dependant.

 

Type 2 will kill you just as dead as type 1. All of the 'complications' a type 1 sufferer can get are made equally available to a type 2.

 

In a type 1 patient, the Islets of Langerhans (in the pancreas) fail to produce Insulin so the disease must be controlled by Insulin.

 

In a type 2 (often referred to as 'Adult onset' diabetes, but increasingly being seen in younger patients) there are 2 usual causes:

 

1. The pancreas doesn't produce enough insulin. (The Islets are still working, but with a reduced output)

 

2. The patient's body (and particularly muscle cells) becomes resistant to insulin.

 

Diet and exercise alone might work - particularly during the early years - but after that there are medications to boost the output of insulin from the pancreas, medications to stop the liver from producing glucagon, medications to help the muscle cells to use the insulin (been a few problems with those recently) and insulin itself.

 

Why not speak to your DNS and ask them if they can put you in touch with other parents who are going through similar problems. There may be a self help group for you and your son to join so you can share experiences.

 

IMO that's really good advice. Fortunately, since the discovery of insulin, it's no longer a case that if your child has diabetes, all you an do is sit back wait for the child to go blind and then die. The disease is treatable (and hopefully type 1 will be curable soon) and there must be many thousands of parents in the UK who have learnt how to make the best of the problem. They are potentially a rich mine of information and help.

 

Yeah, there is a dedicated diabetes team in Sheffield that look after us. And they're brilliant. I have my sons diabetes under control and he is relatively normal, Whatever that is. He does have that rebellious streak that is just starting to rear it's ugly head!!! I find it difficult to talk to health professionals as they always look deeper into things and really I'd like to just be able to moan and see what other peoples experiences are x

 

That's good news, Danni. The reason I wrote about 'not wrapping him in cotton wool' and that 'he can do what all the other kids do' is that a lot of people seem to think that if you're a diabetic, you are almost a total invalid.

 

When my son was small, I was a Beaver Leader, then a Cub Leader then a Scout Leader. We had a number of diabetic children in those organisations. Most of the parents (particularly those with a little experience; those who were used to the fact that their children had the disease) were quite happy to let their children do all the things that the other kids did. And those children could do every bit as much as their friends.

 

I'm a diabetic, I have 2 diabetic brothers and 2 diabetic sisters. I have a number of diabetic friends. When the disease is playing up it does indeed cause limitations - but you learn to live with that and when it's well under control, you can do (almost) anything you like - provided you stick to the rules.

 

I've had a number of people say to me: "Oh, should you be doing that? - You're a diabetic." At that point, I tend to become a somewhat rude diabetic.

 

There are things I can't do. - I can't play the piano, for example. I can, however, do pretty much anything else that I want to do.

[metalman]

There may be a good reason why Type 2 diabetes is being increasingly seen in younger patients: the goalposts seem to have moved. It used to be the case that a blood sugar level over 7 was classed as diabetic, and I think in some countries it still is. Here we have lowered it to 6.5, hence I have been diagnosed with it now since my blood sugar level is dead on 6.5 (and hasn't changed at all in the three years since). Trouble is, I don't have any point of comparison; my blood sugar level might have been 6.5 for all my life and it may be entirely normal for me. I do just wonder whether this a ploy to get more people to sit up and live a healthier lifestyle before it's too late; the cynic in me also wonders whether doctor's surgeries get some sort of financial boost if they have lots of diabetic patients on their books. Certainly when I went for my retina photograph the woman who did it told me she'd done nothing else lately. It has made me eat less crap, and threads like this make me worry even more, but it's hard to say at this point whether I actually have it or not.

[missymoo73]

My neighbour is a diabetic.

 

Last night there was a fuss, an emergency doctor called, then about an hour later, the doc was still there and an ambulance arrived, lights flashing and they carted him off in a sort of chair thing...

 

This seems to be happening more and more, this has happened at least three times so far this year, and hes really starting to look ill. Hes only about 30 yet he staggers about the place as if hes 80, he shudders in fear if I mention taking him for a nice walk up Bardon hill to get him away from the house for a bit and hes skinny as a rake.

 

Hes got a job and everything but he seems to struggle.

 

I knew a bloke a few years ago with diabetes, he had a lot of problems with sex, getting an erection and what have you, and I heared that he died recently with stomach cancer that was probably brought on by his diabetes.

 

He was in his 20s.

 

I dont know much about the condition, Im too lazy to google it so I thought Id ask here for a more human response....

 

My brother is 41 and is Diabetic type 1 so he is insulin dependent.

 

It was diagnosed when he was going for a routine operation 15 years ago. Didn't know he had it - ooking back he now says the signs were all there but he just didnt put two and two together.

 

If you look after yourself its usually pretty ok but my brother who has just come out of hospital after another Hypo is having a pretty rough time of it at the mo.

 

It looks like he now has to change is insulin as its no longer agreeing with him anymore.

 

He has had to near death experiences but now they have found this out with his insulin hopefully it will sort things out.

 

So to answer your question it is very dangerous.

[Rupert_Baehr]

"The more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war." - Mao Zhedung.

 

It applies to diabetes, metalman. If you are a 'borderline' diabetic, the harder you work at staving off the disease now, the better-placed you will be should it worsen in the future.

 

I've been told that the normal range for blood sugars in a diabetic is 80-120mg/dl (4.4 - 6.7mmol/l) but some doctors are suggesting that for people who are not classed as diabetic, the upper limit should be 100 (5.55) that seems a bit tight; you would need an extremely efficient metabolic system to be able to control sugars that carefully and I've no doubt that most people (non-diabetic) go over the upper limit occasionally.

 

When I was at school, my PE teacher (about 13 years older than me) was an impressively fit bloke. He was an accomplished athlete. He developed type 2 diabetes in his 60s and - although he kept himself fit and did as he was told - died a few years later.

 

High blood sugars are not good for you. Not only do you risk damage to blood vessels (and the subsequent 'complications') but injuries are slow to heal. I don't think anybody (the government, doctors, NHS) has some sort of agenda to hype up diabetes; rather the increase in type 2 has been dramatic.

 

It may be that more people are being tested more often, using more sensitive equipment than were tested in the past. Until fairly recently, the way most people found out that they were diabetic was that they were told they were when they'd been picked up off the floor and taken to hospital. - My mother's initial diagnosis came as the result of a blood sugar measurement higher than 30mmol/l. She collapsed at home, was taken to the hospital and then diagnosed. - I doubt that the problem started that day.

 

I remember doing a 'pee test' as a part of my annual medical which was supposed to detect proteins ketones and sugars. When I was first diagnosed as being diabetic and was given a testing machine, that machine wasn't easy to use, required frequent calibration and the test strips were rather expensive (gold-plated contacts on a throw-away strip! ) Modern test machines don't require calibration, are far cheaper, easy to use and may be wildly inaccurate. - I cross-checked my machine with the lab machine at the endocrinologist's office last week and found that my machine (6 months old) was under-reading by 50%

[Rupert_Baehr]

My brother is 41 and is Diabetic type 2 so he is insulin dependent.

 

That doesn't quite follow, Missymoo. A Type 1 is insulin dependent (can't produce any of his own) A Type 2 can be treated with Insulin (but may also be treated with other mnedications and by diet and exercise - which wouldn't work for a Type 1.)

 

Is he a Type 1 or a Type 2?

 

It looks like he now has to change is insulin as its no longer agreeing with him anymore.

 

He has had to near death experiences but now they have found this out with his insulin hopefully it will sort things out.

 

Sorry to hear that - I hope they sort him out quickly.

[missymoo73]

That doesn't quite follow, Missymoo. A Type 1 is insulin dependent (can't produce any of his own) A Type 2 can be treated with Insulin (but may also be treated with other mnedications and by diet and exercise - which wouldn't work for a Type 1.)

 

Is he a Type 1 or a Type 2?

 

 

 

Sorry to hear that - I hope they sort him out quickly.

 

Sorry Rupert yeah he is type 1......he's diabetic and i just a bit thick . I've edited it

 

And I hope he gets sorted too. As its a bit scary for him as well as us at the moment. xx

[adamtaylor]

The cause of diabetes is not known. However, some people are more likely to get it than others. If you have a family members with diabetes who are overweight and over 40 years old, you are at a higher risk. If you have suffered from a disease or inflammation of the pancreas or taken drugs that impede insulin activity, you are at risk. Women who had diabetes in a previous pregnancy are also at risk.

[Plain Talker]

The cause of diabetes is not known. However, some people are more likely to get it than others. If you have a family members with diabetes who are overweight and over 40 years old, you are at a higher risk. If you have suffered from a disease or inflammation of the pancreas or taken drugs that impede insulin activity, you are at risk. Women who had diabetes in a previous pregnancy are also at risk.

 

There is a lot of research going on at the moment about an autoimmune link as the cause of diabetes. Many people with autoimmune difficulties such as Rheumatoid arthritis, and Coeliac Disease, seem to show a propensity toward diabetes too. Some research has been made into whether "juvenile" (type i) diabetes could be triggered by the immune system's over-response to a simple or common childhood infection. I was told that sometimes extreme stress can be a trigger for type ii. My grandpa developed type ii after having a heart attack, aged 77.

 

(i) yes, there is a strong familial link, particularly in Type ii diabetes. I'm a type i, but my grandpa and uncle were both type ii diabetics.

 

(ii) women who have had gestational diabetes are more likely to have gestational diabetes in subsequent pregnancies, but, unfortunately, they are also more susceptible to developing type ii diabetes as they get older.

[*Peaches*]

There is a lot of research going on at the moment about an autoimmune link as the cause of diabetes. Many people with autoimmune difficulties such as Rheumatoid arthritis, and Coeliac Disease, seem to show a propensity toward diabetes too. Some research has been made into whether "juvenile" (type i) diabetes could be triggered by the immune system's over-response to a simple or common childhood infection. I was told that sometimes extreme stress can be a trigger for type ii. My grandpa developed type ii after having a heart attack, aged 77.

 

(i) yes, there is a strong familial link, particularly in Type ii diabetes. I'm a type i, but my grandpa and uncle were both type ii diabetics.

 

(ii) women who have had gestational diabetes are more likely to have gestational diabetes in subsequent pregnancies, but, unfortunately, they are also more susceptible to developing type ii diabetes as they get older.

 

I'm pretty much screwed then