# The disease that's stalking my children by Justin Webb



## Vanessa (Mar 2, 2009)

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/a...talking-children-BBC-newsman-Justin-Webb.html

BBC USA correspondent on diagnosis of his son as Type 1


----------



## aymes (Mar 2, 2009)

quite a nicely written piece, I'd be interested to see what the parents on here think....?


----------



## Northerner (Mar 2, 2009)

aymes said:


> quite a nicely written piece, I'd be interested to see what the parents on here think....?



Agreed, although I thought there was just a little hint of 'Type 2's, it's their own fault' in it. I was thinking about this the other day when that report came out about how diabetes is on the increase. Can't remember the exact details, but over a period of years there had been around 42,000 new cases. 1250 were Type 1 and the rest were Type 2. Around 80% were overweight at diagnosis, that means 20% weren't, which means about 8,000 were T2 without fitting the stereotype - 6 times the number of T1. So you've got a far greater chance of being T2 without it being your 'own fault' than T1!

Sorry, got carried away with statistics there!


----------



## C*5_Dodger (Mar 2, 2009)

Northerner said:


> Agreed, although I thought there was just a little hint of 'Type 2's, it's their own fault' in it. I was thinking about this the other day when that report came out about how diabetes is on the increase. Can't remember the exact details, but over a period of years there had been around 42,000 new cases. 1250 were Type 1 and the rest were Type 2. Around 80% were overweight at diagnosis, that means 20% weren't, which means about 8,000 were T2 without fitting the stereotype - 6 times the number of T1. So you've got a far greater chance of being T2 without it being your 'own fault' than T1!
> 
> Sorry, got carried away with statistics there!


Dear Northerner,

As you say, a well written piece. However, he falls into the common trap in that he believes that we diabetics must get our energy needs from carbohydrate, - not so. We can also get if from fat and even protein (in fact before the discovery of inulin Type 1s used a very low carb diet (high in fat)). The energy "currency" of living organisms is ATP (adenosine tri-phosphate) via the Krebs cycle and the input to the cycle can be any of the 3 macro nutrients.

Regards  Dodger


----------



## Copepod (Mar 2, 2009)

*US medical system*

The other aspect to this story is that it's a British family coping with diagnosis and the US medical system - in an interview I heard on Radio 4 over Christmas, he mentioned the difficulties of a system where every syringe has to be noted and paid for by either the family (first part - like an excess on travel or car insurance) and then the rest, up to a limit, is paid by the insurance company, but with an ultimate limit of funds per year. Fortunately, his family has good insurance paid for by BBC, but it's much tougher for many Americans. Whatever the limitations of the NHS, at least we have a state health service.


----------



## katie (Mar 2, 2009)

"But under the surface we are in a torment of shock and heartbreak"

"Without it we are full of useless sugar. We die. And until relatively recently that would have been Sam's certain fate. "

I know it's terrible to kind out one of your kids has a condition like this, but it could be soooo much worse than diabetes.  Some people are so over dramatic and depressing!


----------



## Copepod (Mar 3, 2009)

"Without it we are full of useless sugar. We die. And until relatively recently that would have been Sam's certain fate. "
Overdramatic - perhaps, but just think about the history of diabetes management for a minute. In the 1930s, all people who developed Type 1 diabetes died within days, weeks or months, despite rigid low carbohydrate diets. Only when insulin was identified and isolated for injection did things begin to change. 
I guess it all depends whether you consider 1930s to be relatively recently - my grandparents were alive then, and both parents were born in 1930s (only just!), so I guess to me, it is certainly within living memory.
However, as Katie says, there are many worse conditions to have.


----------



## mikep1979 (Mar 3, 2009)

katie said:


> "But under the surface we are in a torment of shock and heartbreak"
> 
> "Without it we are full of useless sugar. We die. And until relatively recently that would have been Sam's certain fate. "
> 
> I know it's terrible to kind out one of your kids has a condition like this, but it could be soooo much worse than diabetes.  Some people are so over dramatic and depressing!




i can see where he is coming from with this report, but why get het up about something you cant control?? im type 1 and for a couple of years my son had an over active bladder and i convinced myself i had given him diabetes. it was horrid and caused me no end of bother.

i wouldnt wish diabetes on my worse enemy but like katie said there are many things a heck of a lot worse to be dealing with.


----------



## Copepod (Mar 3, 2009)

*diagnosis in a strange land*

Although diabetes isn't the worst thing that can happen to anyone, I reckon it is more difficult to cope with a diagnosis in a strange health system. He is a British father in the USA, which has health insurance, but no NHS. 
I speak with a modicum of understanding, as I was diagnosed in New Zealand - and could not stay, as the diagnosis meant I couldn't continue to train as a SCUBA diving instructor, so without employment, I had no work permit, so had to return to UK.


----------



## mikep1979 (Mar 3, 2009)

i understand that side of it as i was a very active member of the army when i got diagnosed and i had my career stripped away as i could no longer do my job, even tho i was very extensively trained to get to the level i was at. it killed me to have to leave as i was a lifer and could have still be in now.


----------



## Freddie99 (Mar 3, 2009)

Mike,

It kills me to know that I cannot even be considered to join the army because of it. One of my pet hates with this disease. Oh well. Time to carry on.

Tom H


----------



## mikep1979 (Mar 3, 2009)

i completely understand how you feel tom as i was a lifer and was due to start some really interesting training with a new regiment if you catch my drift mate lol.


----------



## Freddie99 (Mar 3, 2009)

Yeah, I get your drift Mike. Just hoping what I'm doing at the moment regarding the army will pay off. You know how I feel on this matter.

Tom H


----------



## bev (Mar 3, 2009)

Obviously we are still raw after Alex's diagnosis , but i could understand his feeling of guilt etc ... thinking its something the parents have done to create this situation. I did find it odd when he said that life expectancy is shortened - as Alex's consultant has told us that there is no reason to think this way - if he keeps his levels stable - then his life expectancy should not be altered. And who knows what medical research will be able to come up with in the future! I also felt that he was a bit too much doom and gloom - ok its not something you would specifically wish for your child - but it is very liveable with and unlike pre 1922 there is a way round it. I have read stories of people with diabetes living well into their nineties - and they didnt get the best advice in the early days. Bev


----------



## Adrienne (Mar 4, 2009)

aymes said:


> quite a nicely written piece, I'd be interested to see what the parents on here think....?



Hiya

The parents on my other email list where there are probably about 300 parents now think it's a great piece and are awfully upset he is not in the UK and being our own personal journalist!   We did get friendly with one who reported for the Times or Guardian and she reported when we won the Change 4life campaign but it would be great to have someone like this fella.


----------



## Patricia (Mar 5, 2009)

I thought the piece was generally good too, I must say...And the big thing about it is that it speaks from a parent point of view -- which is necessarily quite different from a diabetic's point of view. Your child being diagnosed with a chronic illness -- and one that requires constant intervention *in order to give the best chance for future health*  -- is very bleak and difficult, when until that moment everything in you understood this child's life to be constructed otherwise. 

The early days of diagnosis are desperate. They were for me. This is not to say that so much isn't better and will be better, and that, essentially, things are *okay*. But it remains painful for me that my son will always be coping with diabetes. As parents our purpose is even more clear -- to help and support him -- but as my daughter said soon after diagnosis, the whole family has diabetes. She's right.

So I was heartened to see the early times of diagnosis expressed so well.

As for life-shortening...well, diabetes shouldn't have that effect these days. However, there is no avoiding the increased risk of so many health problems, and the subsequent pressure on achieving good control. Something that the many diabetics on this site understand so well. Justin Webb is just saying these things from a raw state of mind,perhaps -- but which I appreciate! All too often there's a 'buck up' attitude to diabetes -- I can't tell you how many people have said 'oh, it'll get better and you'll all get used to it'. Um, yes and no, as has been discussed elsewhere. No one understands the sheer willpower and concentration to get diabetes under control as well as diabetics themselves or parents acting for their children. The more Justin Webb can do for that understanding, the better, in my book!

The one thing I found odd, given what I know about the US system (being American!), was to find that Sam is on two injections rather than MDI. Considering that so very many US kids are put virtually straight onto pumps, I was staggered. 

Adrienne, what email list is your other one? children with diabetes uk?


----------

