this article was written in a unique manner….

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Julie Bohlen
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I just wanted to respond to the question of the magazine. I was originally misdiagnosed as a Type 2 in July of last year. This is often the case with Type 1 LADA. . and I have recently had my diagnosis corrected.

As a newly diagnosed PWD (person with diabetes) I have found the magazine to be full of information that helps me better manage my diabetes. Even as a Type 1, I try to manage my carb intake and it’s really nice to have recipes that I don’t have to calculate myself.

I also have found many stories in the magazine to be inspirational and as people share their stories, I don’t feel so alone AND I pick up on management ideas I otherwise would’ve had to learn through trial and error.

I’ve know two PWD (person with diabetes) in my lifetime. I haven’t seen either of them in 25 years and one of them passed away recently. My doctor has admitted he knows very little about Type 1 and sends his patients directly to an Endo. . so where does one go for the information we so badly need?

I’m a subscriber because the information is useful, the stories of others is inspiring and they report on advances I would otherwise not hear about. . .except on twitter.

As for twitter. .the DTribe there is AMAZING! They are the reason I am doing so well today. Having shared my issues on twitter over time, many of them jumped in and suggested I have additional lab work done. Because THEY’D EXPERIENCED THE SAME THING. . THEY recognized my misdiagnosis before my Dr. did, helped me get in to see an Endo and have helped with questions I’ve had about insulin treatment and everything else. I am convinced they saved my life.

I don’t know how to end this except to say that:
1. your use of the word “lifestyle,” implies we had a choice in the matter and this is the lifestyle we chose. That’s what I read, and it did upset me as well. I would NEVER choose a lifestyle that required me to calculate every single bit of food I put in my mouth, every body movement and how it will burn glucose, test my blood sugar 8-10 times a day and leave my belly looking like I have chicken pox from all the injections.
2. If people find useful information or inspiration about something that so overtakes their lives, their mindshare, their time, in a magazine, I say, let it be. If you’d like to comment about a lifestyle magazine, maybe you could look at the porn industry. The objectification of women is a bigger issue to me than someone offering me some recipes to keep my BG down.

Except there aren’t. Have you heard of ways in which Type 1 diabetes can be prevented on an individual level? What are they?

“We have a responsibility to examine how to prevent that rate escalation.”

Before you can prevent something, you have to know the cause. We don’t know the cause of Type 1 diabetes. There are many theories but no definite answers.

My one concern, which seems to be a common thread in many of the posts, is the insistence that Type 1 diabetes cannot be prevented. Now, don’t get me wrong, I absolutely understand that at the INDIVIDUAL level, that while there may be ways to prevent the onset of the disease or resulting complications, there clearly is no way to prevent it entirely. However, when I talk about “prevention” I typically am not referring to individual behavior or medical care. (For more info on how I view “prevention,” see “The Spectrum of Prevention” here: http://www.preventioninstitute.org/index.php?option=com_jlibrary&view=article&id=105&Itemid=127)

When I referred to the rise in diabetes rates in my original post, there was an inclination to assume I was talking about the rise in Type 2 (or that I didn’t know what I was talking about in the first place). Please remember that while we have not seen as drastic an increase in Type 1 diabetes, the incidence of Type 1 has been rising year over year. (I have not read this book, but the summary looks fascinating: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2010-01/kp-iot010410.php) When the incidence of a disease doubles over the course of 20 years, the public health advocate in me says we have a responsibility to examine how to prevent that rate escalation.

Like each of you, I am grateful that there is now the ability for sharing among individuals on how to better manage health conditions — be it via magazines or online communities or otherwise. I’m in favor of anything that improves the quality of life for those living with chronic conditions. However, that doesn’t change my core belief that I’d rather see increased focus on how to eliminate those conditions in the first place.

I ended up on the wrong end of the genetic stick. Until I was out of college, I tended to be underweight. One of those people who could eat anything and not exercise…and not gain weight.

Then I got out of college and began living an even more sedentary life than one that requires walking all over a college campus. That coupled with a slowing down of my metabolism in the form of undiagnosed hypothyroidism contributed to a large weight gain and my eventual type 2 diabetes diagnosis.

Now that I’m five years out from diagnosis, I’m healthier than ever. I’m luckier than many out there, though. I can afford to pick and choose what I eat, to buy expensive exercise equipment to have at home (or a gym membership should I choose). And I am active in the online diabetes community, learning about latest research and nutrition news.

What does this have to do with Diabetic Living…or a lifestyle…? Well, without magazines and online media out there focused on the disease, fewer people receive the knowledge they need to even improve their lives just a little, regardless of income. I don’t always agree with publications, based on my own idea of nutrition guidelines, but I’m glad they’re out there for the general diabetes public.

Yes, it’s sad that there is a diabetes public. But it’s reality and there has to be a way to support those who have diabetes.

(P.S. There’s another publication out there, Diabetes Self-Management, whose title is even more mind-boggling – but that’s what it comes down to. We find what works to achieve blood sugar control with our doctors, but it comes down to us managing our own diabetes – type 2, type 1, or the others all alike.)

I hope some of my Type 2 friends respond.

This is becoming more Type 1 centric, which is ok and good, it is the minority when it comes to types of Diabetes and we tend to be a bit more of the educating advocate types.

I was six years old when my islet of langerhans decided to stop working. I, nor my parents, did nothing to make that happen. No one wants to live with a chronic illness. Insulin helps me manage, survive, live. I am forever grateful for it’s discovery in the 1920s when the disease was a death sentence.

Believe me, we all agree the state of the US, health insurance and general health wise, is a definite issue. We live it, we know, all to well.

As for me, I do not have insurance. To buy it as an individual or within the small business I work for, well, I don’t make that kind of money.

I could go on and on but each person, all over the world, has their story, their issues.

Coming together for a common cause to help all is, sadly, less common then it used to be.

That is why dialog across all levels is so important. Patients living with a chronic illness provide key information into what they need to manage. It’s the rest of the world that does not always listen. Too much is about profit, as you say, market. It is unfortunate but Elizabeth makes a point. Not all people can access the Diabetes Online Community or any chronic online community. Magazines help. But it Has to come from Doctors first. That is a bigger issue. Then, insurance companies need to fall in line along with Pharma but that is a whole other slew of madness I have no energy for today. Or anytime soon.

Please know, Holly, I am very pleased, Very, that you responded. You help continue a much needed dialog. There is no slandering or mudslinging against people as themselves. I don’t roll that way. I debated for a long time on the post I wrote. It was a first for me and you were, lack of better word here, the target because of your position at the company you work for.

Either way. Please keep asking Any questions you have! The Dmob concept is a humorous way to help each other keep our sanity but we are more than willing to discuss. We all know how important that is.

Thank you again. And sorry for my long-winded, rambling response.

Crystal