Not in any particular order.
1. Diabetes is caused by poor diet and fitness. No, Diabetes is not caused by sugar. There are a few different reasons why a person can develop diabetes, and while bad eating habits and being sedentary make some of it worse, it does not cause it to happen. Type 1 is caused when the pancreas stops producing insulin. Type 2 is a genetic disease caused by a combination of insulin resistance, low pancreatic activity, and faulty liver function, not always all three, in any combination of the above. Type 1.5 is autoimmune and is, to keep it short, slow onset Type 1. Gestational Diabetes is diabetes that develops during a pregnancy. And traumatic injury or disease to the pancreas can cause diabetes. But Twinkies and Coke do not cause it.
2. Diabetes can be cured. This one is my pet peeve so let me be completely clear.
THERE IS NO CURE FOR DIABETES
No matter what kind you have, at this point in time there is no cure. Some, I repeat SOME Type 2's can go into a remission like state where, through a combination of lifestyle changes and the good fortune of their diabetes being less severe than others, their blood glucose numbers are in a normal range. This is not the same thing as being cured. You can't cure genes.
3. Type 1 or 2 Diabetes is worse than the other type. No. Disease doesn't work that way. There is no better or worse kind of diabetes. It all sucks. Having a disease that affects how you need to life your life, affects every organ in your body, affects the length of your life, and much more, is not a pissing contest. None of this is a competition. That's like saying one form of cancer is better or worse than another.
4. Type 1 is something children get. Incorrect. Type 1 Diabetes, an autoimmune disease that happens when the immune system attacks the beta cells of the pancreas and kills off most or all insulin production in the body, can happen to any person at any age. Nobody knows why it happens, nobody can stop it, and it's not predictable.
5. Type 2 is something old people get. Incorrect. Type 2 Diabetes, a genetic disease, happens when the body becomes resistant to it's own insulin, the liver dumps glucose into the blood stream incorrectly, and the pancreas may or may not make insulin in the proper amounts. It can happen to anybody with the gene, at any age, nobody can stop it, and it's not predictable.
6. Diabetes isn't that bad, you just have to eat right. Wrong. Diabetes causes more deaths per year than breast cancer and AIDS combined. There are complications from diabetes, such as heart disease and stroke, that are deadly.
7. Diabetics can't eat sugar, or can't eat carbs. That is absolutely not true. The human body requires carbohydrates. Not eating carbs will cause as much damage and problems to a diabetic as eating too much. Telling a diabetic that they shouldn't eat that is just an asshole kind of thing to say, unless you're talking to your child who you're trying to teach. A diabetic needs to count how many carbs they're consuming and balance it out with the right amount of insulin or medication. They got this; back off.
8. Diabetics get sick more easily. No, we really don't. However, when we do get sick, the immune response in our bodies makes our blood glucose numbers jump around like kangaroos and more difficult to control. So sometimes when we get sick, it's kind of a big deal.
9. Fruit is healthy and natural so a diabetic can eat it. Bonk! SO not true! Fruit is sweet, and full of carbohydrates, and needs to be properly accounted for when we count those carbs.
10. There are lots of products that can cure diabetes. OMG I hate those things and the people who push them. I'll reiterate that diabetes does not have a cure. Taking some product you read about online, saw in a commercial, had pretty packaging on the store shelf, or somebody tried to sell you, not only won't cure diabetes but may cause it's own set of problems. Just because something is organic and made of all natural products doesn't mean there aren't side effects, it doesn't mean it's good for you, and it sure as shit doesn't mean it's going to cure you of an incurable disease. If you want to try something do this -- print up a list of all it's ingredients and take that to your pharmacist. Talk to the pharmacist about what medications you're currently taking and if any of the ingredients listed will interfere with them. If you get a green light, go ahead and throw your money at it. It's your body. But don't say nobody warned you.
11. Diabetics need insulin. To be perfectly precise, every person needs insulin to live. Some people don't make enough on their own and need to outsource production, is all. But a diagnosis of diabetes doesn't mean that you will automatically go on insulin. Many Type 2 diabetics control just fine with oral medication combined with diet and fitness.
12. Diabetes only affects rich countries. Not correct. Diabetes occurs in every demographic, in every country, on every continent, in every color, in every religion, in every income bracket, in every age. It doesn't discriminate.
13. Diabetes care isn't costly. Oh, how I wish! Some diabetes medications that have been around a while are somewhat affordable, but no, diabetes is incredibly expensive. Between the doctor visits every three months, the blood tests they perform, the self testing multiple times a day, the medications, the complications.....no, none of it is inexpensive.
14. Diabetics use their diabetes as an excuse to get out of things. Well, I can't say that 100% of diabetics would never, ever do such a thing, but it's pretty likely that it's not true and you're just not understanding what's happening. A diabetic needs to test their blood glucose regularly, they need to eat regularly, they need to take their medications regularly, and if their blood glucose levels get too high or low they need to treat that immediately. So if they need to take a break from class or from their job or from whatever it is that they're doing to make sure things are okay, then they really do need to do that. Would you rather they just passed out in front of you to prove they weren't making it up?
Oh, there are a lot of things that people don't know about diabetes. Heck, there are a lot of diabetics who don't understand it themselves and have misconceptions! There've been studies! But you know, if you have questions please feel free to ask them. Oh, and here's a study on how even many diabetics are lacking in education and understanding of what's happening to their own bodies.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2660470/
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