Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Awareness

I often find myself wishing that Diabetes Awareness got as much attention as Breast Cancer did last month.  We don't even get a third of the attention that Breast Cancer gets, yet diabetes kills more people.  I wish that
wish that Diabetes could take more of a center stage like Breast Cancer has. Heck, we don't get football players to wear pink (well blue for us), we don't have blue ribbons on packages of food at the grocery store.  We don't have very many celebrities that stand behind us. (we do have a couple and I am VERY thankful for them) We don't have the media behind us in this.  We don't have credit card companies behind us. We don't have many people standing behind us at all and it's sad.

I feel like Type 1 Diabetes has to become an epidemic like Breast Cancer or Autism before we get noticed.  Yes, Type 2 Diabetes is an epidemic and is noticed, a lot.  That is part of the problem!  The general public seems to think my girls are overweight and feed junk food.  NOT the case AT ALL!!  My girls are very healthy and growing girls. There is a lot of misconceptions between Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes.  It's sad that  people just can't take a small step and distinguish between the two diseases because they are two VERY different diseases.

And did you know that it is becoming an epidemic?  There are 80 people diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes each day.  Diabetes KILLS more people each year then Cancer and AIDS combined!  I would say that is an epidemic, yet there is still no strong awareness campaign for Type 1 Diabetes. Many people don't know the difference between the two, yet they are very different diseases.

Type 1 is an autoimmune disease.  Type 2 is metabolic.  Type 1 diabetic have to have insulin to LIVE.  Type 2 diabetics can typically control their diabetes with diet and exercise. (although, some Type 2 diabetics do need insulin.)

Not knowing the signs and symptoms of Type 1 diabetes can be deadly.  Take this sweet girl Addison Parker.  She was diagnosed on August 12, 2011. She fell into a diabetic coma that day and passed away just 6 short days later on August 18th.  Type 1 is deadly and can come on suddenly, just like it did with Addison. Addison was just 4 years old.

For our girls the symptoms didn't come on so suddenly.  Lovebug's gradually got worse for about 5 days before I took her to the doctor.  Princess got bad over a couple days, we knew what to look for.  We put 2 and 2 together pretty quickly and checked her blood sugar at home to confirm our suspicions.  We could have easily lost either one of them.  Makes me sick to my stomach to think about it.

That leads me to today's Fact:
The Warning Signs of Type 1 Diabetes are:

  • Extreme thirst
  • Frequent urination
  • drowsiness or lethargy
  • Increased appetite
  • Sudden weight loss
  • Sudden vision changes
  • Sugar in urine
  • Fruity odor on the breath
  • Heavy or Labored breathing
  • Stupor or unconsciousness
So if anything, make sure you know the signs and symptoms of Type 1 Diabetes.  It could save some you love.  



3 comments:

Jules said...

this is an excellent post! i had no idea what the symptoms were, and i recall the people at the hospital saying, 'lucky you brought him in when you did or....' and they trailed off. i found out lots later what that 'or' was.

The DL said...

I feel the same way. I often find myself in envy of other media attention that I wish could be towards Type 1. ONE DAY!

Misty said...

Glad you are sharing the signs and symptoms of type 1 diabetes. It is so important to educate people about these. I had no idea before Ally's diagnosis...and neither did the nurse who was treating her in the pediatrician's office!

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