I've been fighting the urge a lot lately.  Why?  Well, it all stems from a big word beginning with i: IGNORANCE.  I have come across so much ignorance in relation to diabetes that I intend on spending a large percentage of my salary (when I finally graduate and start working) on full page ads in all the major newspapers to dispel a few myths about diabetes. 

I'm sure that I'm not alone in my annoyance here.  We've all heard the one about eating too much sugar as children.  My physical education teacher was the first one to come up with this gem two days after I was diagnosed.  That really helped my parents to deal with the guilt they were feeling at the time.  Guilt they knew had no basis, but which ate at them regardless.  Another bright gentlemen stated outright that diabetics could not use depilatory wax due to the sugar content: I don't know about you, but I generally don't eat it!  And I lost count early on of the people who asked me if I should or shouldn't be doing this or eating that.  Of course, me being the person who would suffer the consequences of getting ill needed them to remind me of what is and isn't conducive to good health. 

We've all seen news stories about diabetes.  The type that begin with shots of fried bacon and eggs, and that zoom in on excessively-rounded buttocks and some poor innocent wolfing down McDonalds.  While we know that this information is based on type 2 diabetes rather than type 1, unfortunately there is usually no differentiation between the two types. Therefore the ignorance continues to breed and non-diabetics continue to risk their own personal safety by questioning our dietary habits as youngsters.  I often ask people that if all diabetes is caused by poor diet, then how exactly does an infant fed only breast milk manage to establish such poor dietary habits to induce diabetes?  Whilst they asked about my diet with such confidence (as comes with knowing you're right), my question is often met with puzzled looks and responses of 'Oh, I hadn't thought of that.' 

Recently, while shopping with a friend, I tested my blood sugar. Without even looking up, she said 'Have you been naughty, Kate.'  I've known this girl for 14 years and I'm not usually the aggressive type, but I could have punched her.  Of course this 'aggression' may have been exacerbated by the fact I was having a hypo!  Such ignorance and 'blaming' are common place.  This demonstrated to me exactly how little my friend understood even the physiological basics of diabetes, let alone the emotional baggage that comes with it. 

I'm not one for complaining about diabetes or feeling sorry for myself, but there is no denying that diabetes can be a huge burden at times, emotionally and physically.  It seems that my friends don't realise this.  They were all there when I was diagnosed, offering support.  I seem to cope well, quickly learning to deal with life with diabetes and becoming self-sufficient in regards to dealing with my problems.  I think this has now given my friends a false sense of the ease of life with diabetes. Because I seem to cope so well, they assume that it's easy and that if anything happens to go wrong, it must be a failure on my part.  After all, how hard can it be to mimic the actions of the human body that have taken many thousands of years of evolution to fine tune? 

This is one of the hardest misconceptions to deal with.  Anyone with diabetes knows that it is far from a text book disease and that things can change from day to day.  Therefore, things can and do go wrong.  And to blame ourselves for each thing that doesn't go as planned is to take the fast track to mental breakdown!  Yet, we sometimes do blame ourselves, and evidently so do other people.  We don't need that additional pressure or blame.  But rarely are such comments made with malice, those that make them are simply ignorant to the impact they may have. 

Hypoglycaemia is another misunderstood concept.  Hypos seem to come only at the most inappropriate times.  We're never hypoglycaemic when we're at home with nothing better to do.  No, we have them at work, at uni, when we're out with friends.  I have had some of the strangest responses when I've had hypos.  Some people panic that I'm going to collapse and start convulsing at their feet, while others expect me to continue on with what I'm doing, whether it be brandishing a scalpel towards some poor toad or giving a speech.  Wouldn't it be nice to sit down and explain in fine detail exactly what is happening to you and how it is affecting you. Unfortunately, through the sweat, shaking and slurring, I never seem to make the impression I'd hoped for.  I therefore come across as some bumbling mess, with my ignorant counterpart no wiser. 

While I have often tried to dispel some of the common myths, I have found that I don't have too receptive an audience.  Diabetes is a complicated disease.  This, coupled with the fact that no one likes to hear that they're wrong, makes destroying ignorance an uphill battle.  Even if you can manage to get someone to listen to your explanation, many have well and truly switched off by the time you've finished.  And when you get the response, 'Oh, right', you know that they're about to walk off with the very same opinion as they began with.  Ignorance is far easier than learning and understanding the facts. 

What's my point: I'm sick of misinformed (or even uninformed) people arrogantly airing their opinions about diabetes.  There are two options for such people: 

1. Go out and research the facts: this is about as likely to happen as my pancreas spontaneously resuming insulin production.  OR 
2. Stop airing their opinions so freely: the far easier option and one which may slow the progression of senseless, ignorant views about diabetes.