Britain's "Diabetes Epidemic" in the News...

The UK news has been full of figures released today by Diabetes UK stating that one person is diagnosed with diabetes every three minutes in Britain. Last year 150,000 people were diagnosed with the condition, up from 100,000 the year before.

I may be just a little bit cynical, but I can't help but think that the 50% jump in diagnosis rates, which reports acknowledge is mainly made up of people with Type 2, has a large part to owe to performance related pay for General Practitioners. GP's pay is topped up if they meet a number of different government targets. Diagnosing type 2 diabetes, and putting people on medication to control it, are things which attract reward.

Don't get me wrong, I believe an increased diagnosis rate is far preferable to having the estimated million people walking around without knowing they have diabetes, whilst elevated blood glucose levels do untold damage to their body systems. Of course diagnosing people with diabetes is a good thing,  if they are accurately  diagnosed. And I'm well aware that there are many people diagnosed with Type 2 who don't fit the profile that is classically portrayed in the media. If the people receiving treatment actually need to take tablets, or insulin, rather than receive proper individualised care and support to modify lifestyle factors that may be contributing to their health, I have no objection.

I'm sceptical for a reason. My own GP has attempted to get me taking an array of medications from ACE inhibitors to statins, simply because I have diabetes. For the record, I have no other cardiac risk factors, I do not have elevated blood pressure or microalbuminuria. Most of all, I have a cholesterol level well below the recommended safe level and stand only to suffer side effects from taking cholesterol lowering statins. Reading internet message boards and email forums, I know  that I'm far from alone in being a "healthy diabetic" put under pressure to take unnecessary medications in order for the GP to tick a box and claim their extra pay.

The irony, of course, is that Diabetes UK is using these figures not just for the admirable purpose of urging the Government to put diabetes at the top of the health agenda for 2009, but also to ensure that people diagnosed with diabetes get "the best possible care, information and support". In other words, not just being stuck on medication to tick a box!

Again, don't get me wrong. Anything which raises the profile of this often devastating condition has the potential to be a very good thing, But yet again I can't help feeling that this news will do nothing to raise profile of Type 1, and has the potential to actually damage the cause for more support and research.

As usual, we can rely on the Daily Mail to stir thing up. The Daily Mail, for those who don't know, is a UK newspaper that balances precariously in the no-man's-land of journalism. It is not a tabloid paper that supplies those who want it with the latest celebrity gossip and "human interest" stories about tragic death but does little harm to those who choose not to read it. Nor is it a broadsheet paper that may be somewhat biased, but openly so, by political affiliation but at least upholds ethical standards of reporting and attempts at balance, as well as covering "serious" political and financial news. The Daily Mail is gutter press. It switches affiliation depending upon the story and bases reporting on who it can "have a go at". The Daily Mail is legendary for creating more health scares than a hospital full of unqualified doctors. The only thing the Daily Mail truly does well is sensationalism.

So I wasn't entirely surprised when I read the Daily Mail's reporting of Diabetes UK's research. It is full of vitriolic criticism of "fat people" and clearly lays the blame for diabetes at the feet of those who have it, whilst pointing out how it will contribute to crippling the NHS. The article mentions that the majority of cases are Type 2, but no where does it even mention Type 1, yet alone make clear what the difference is.  The overwhelming message of the article is that diabetes is exclusively caused by obesity. It will do nothing to help move type 1 diabetes up the health agenda if all efforts are solely aimed at lifestyle modification and obesity reduction.

Diabetes isn't always caused by the people suffering from it. And poor control isn't just down to the patients if they haven't been given the education and resources to manage their condition. Supporting people with Type 1 to live well will reduce complications and enable people to live longer lives whilst working and contributing to society - contributing to funding of the NHS, far from crippling it.

It is tragic that so many people are being diagnosed with diabetes. But the way the media, the government and so many misinformed people respond to the emotive subject of "diabetes" is equally sad.

Comments

[Kathy]

The outright bias in the media is one of the many reasons I choose to stay 'closeted' as a PWD. I just don't need the headache of explaining myself to complete strangers sometimes. Terrible for advocacy, I know, but sadly most people are utterly lost on the difference between type 1 & 2. Ugh :(

[Brian Redwood]

In 1992 I was diagnosed as diabetic type 2 with the need to inject insulin twice per day for the rest of my life until late 2005 I decided to try something different. My change in lifestyle was to lose weight and increase exercise and also increase blood testing. Fairly quickly as I lost weight I could specifically identify food types that elevated my blood glucose levels higher and for longer and eliminated them from my diet. In less than six months my insulin intake level had dropped from 90 units per day to zero and now almost three years later am still insulin injection and diabetic medecine free with other medication significantly reduced. This might not be reversal but is a significant step in the right direction.