Today is annual Diabetes Alert Day — an important day, I suppose, for finding all those “hidden” type 2 diabetics out there who don’t yet know they have it — but for us already living with diabetes, a somewhat enigmatic campaign. Also, for those of us concerned with type 1 diabetes, today seems like an excellent day to do some advocating on the symptoms and risk factors for both type 1 and type 2 diabetes, dontcha think?
Starting at the beginning, let us consider that there are 26 million Americans with diabetes, and an estimated 27 percent (that’s 7 million people) who aren’t even diagnosed yet, so the impact here is staggering. Remember that the symptoms of type 2 diabetes can take years to develop, which is why regular screening tests are vital for those at risk. We’ve heard too many stories of people who only got diagnosed with type 2 diabetes when they went to see their doctor for severe vision problems or other late-stage complications.
Those of us “engaged” in our diabetes know the importance of taking our medication and monitoring our blood sugar. It makes us feel better and helps us lead long, healthy, complication-free lives.
To encourage the country at large to get more engaged in its own health, the American Diabetes Association has launched a new awareness campaign called the “Join the Million Challenge.” It’s a month-long initiative in which the ADA is encouraging one million people to take the Diabetes Risk Test to identify whether or not they are at risk for type 2 diabetes. As a reminder, the risk factors for type 2 diabetes include:
- Family history
- Race (Native Americans are the most at-risk ethnic group, as well as African Americans, Hispanics/Latinos, Alaska Natives, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders)
- Being overweight
- Being physically inactive
- Having diabetes during pregnancy
- Being over the age of 45
How will the ADA net those one million participants in the Risk Test? They’re encouraging all of us to spread the word through social media, via automatic Facebook and Twitter messages that you can send easily by just clicking the links. That seems a pretty clever way to help get the word out beyond just the diabetes blogosphere bubble.
* We encourage you to help out here, by referring any family and friends who might be at risk to the Diabetes Risk Test — whether by word-of-mouth, by emailing them, or by using the ADA’s magical auto-social-media
* You can also look up local Diabetes Alert Day events happening in your area by visiting the ADA’s interactive listing here
While we surely don’t mind helping to spread the word about this type 2 diabetes awareness campaign, we at the ‘Mine can’t help but feel a little sad that type 1 diabetes hasn’t been included in a more proactive way here…
Of course, the symptoms of type 1 diabetes are usually way more obvious than those of type 2. But then again, we’ve known several children who became extremely ill because their doctors assumed they had the flu. One mother whom Allison met while she was in high school had lost her child to undiagnosed diabetes. We’ve also discovered that many newly diagnosed adults do not know what type of diabetes they have — even those who lost a lot of weight at diagnosis and were put on insulin right away. So clearly there IS a need for more “alert” to the onset of type 1 as well.
Just to test the waters, I Googled “How do you know if you have type 1 diabetes?” and I found a couple of really good links. Healia.com publishes this guide. Diabetes.net has a nice page to help you figure out what type of diabetes you have. But my favorite was a sweet gal who calls herself qtcassie220 online, who’s posted her own personal set of type 1 awareness videos. Symptoms of type 1 diabetes? I’ll let her do the talking:
Speaking of advocacy, there are some weird things going on at the government level that will affect ALL of us with diabetes. While the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) has just announced a sweeping 10-year strategic plan for diabetes research, JDRF is partnering with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to find a cure for diabetes and its complications through the support of (separate?) research.
According to JDRF, “there are proposals in Congress that would cut NIH funding, which could impact promising research on new approaches to diagnose, prevent, and treat diabetes. Worse, the cuts could be a devastating blow to the millions of patients that rely every day on NIH for the possibility of a healthier tomorrow and to the next generation of promising U.S. scientists.”
They’re encouraging all of us to sign this petition to indicate our support of this mission-critical NIH research on diabetes. Please. Go. Do.
We thank you.
{btw, in case you’re reading this at work, don’t feel bad: March 22 is also International Goof Off Day, so you’re actually doing your part in two ways!}
It does bother me how much the ADA ignores adult Type 1s, especially as it seems to perpetuate the myth that Type 1s are cute kids and the rest of us are obese, lazy Type 2s (not that either type is necessarily either obese or lazy). This coupled with the strident Breast Cancer Awareness campaigns depresses me. I just wish the ADA and our doctors were aware of us.
As the parent of a child with diabetes, I always find it discouraging that T1 doesn’t get as much press, especially the warning signs in children.
We were lucky to have a pediatrician who caught it based on me calling and saying Q drank a half gallon of milk in one day (among other symptoms, but that was the one that made me really think something was wrong and it wasn’t lingering illness).
But there was a child in our school district who died of undiagnosed Type 1 diabetes last year.
So as I and another parent of a diabetic child gave an inservice to the teachers at school this year, we made sure that *they* knew the warning signs. After all, children have to ask to go to the bathroom or get a drink so teachers may pick up on the signs.
When I sent home fliers and e-mailed parents about our ADA Kiss-a-Pig campaign, I made sure to include information on the signs of diabetes. If it’s in the back of their minds, maybe when their child or someone they know starts having symptoms they can identify it early.
So with all my advocacy and educating that I try to do regarding Type 1 diabetes, why am I asking people to take the risk assessment for T2 today?
Because us parents of children with diabetes often put our children first and don’t take care of ourselves. Given that lack of exercise and poor diet are risk factors, those of us caring for kids with T1 might be putting ourselves at risk.
I took the test today and my risk was “low” and only based on the fact that I have a family member with diabetes (though it did not ask if the family member was T1 or T2, which might make a difference).
Thanks for posting this, Amy. I wrote about it today, too, and delved into my concern about the messaging. But it’s great to have this awareness and there are so many excellent ways to go about it. Loved the video you posted.
Thanks for the useful article. I did not know today is “diabetes alert day”. Recently my wife has been diagnosed with diabetes and I am reading many articles on diabetes and I found this post to be very useful.
Thanks
I do agree that Type 1 diabetes does not get the attention it should. Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes are both devastating for those diagnosed. Diabetes Alert Day should give equal attention to both. The ADA site for Alert Day does give both types the opportunity to join the movement and share their stories. I know this in no way excuses the fact that this day has been set aside largely for Type 2 diabetics, but maybe if enough Type 1′s join and share their story, the ADA will get the hint.
Thanks for this important post, Amy! As a diabetes educator I have provided “Diabetes Alert Day” stations throughout the years. My observation is that the majority of the people who stop by my table have no risk of type 2 diabetes. The ones with high risk avoid me like the plague. My plea to those people who know they are at risk: please talk to us (diabetes educators); get more information; you can prevent this thing from happening. And finally: we are not the food police! We won’t make you feel bad because you are at risk for type 2 diabetes. We just want to help.
PS Diabetes Alert Day is geared toward type 2 diabetes because it is preventable. Type 1 diabetes is just as important – and thank you to those who are working hard to get the word out on how to detect it as well!
I agree that type 1 diabetes does not get the attention from the ADA that it should. Both type 1 and type 2 diabetes are both devastating to those who have been diagnosed with them. The Diabetes Alert Day should give equal consideration for both. The ADA site for Alert Day does give both types the opportunity to join the movement and share their stories. I know this in no way excuses the fact that this day has in large been set aside for type 2 diabetics, but if enough type 1′s join and share their stories, maybe the ADA will get the hint that they are ignoring a large percentage of diabetics in this country.
Thank you for this posting that educates many who don’t know about the silent and ubiquitous symptoms of both types of diabetes. As you are all probably aware, type 1 is being diagosed more frequently in folks who are in their 30s. So keep sharing your message; it will take time, but the social media is a great way to spread it more quickly! Check out our Fit4d blog for a future post on why type 1 diabetes diagnoses is on the rise.