Posted by abi on September 27, 2004 at 21:26:05:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Hba1c 9.2... : ) or : ( posted by Mike on September 27, 2004 at 20:27:09:
Unfortunately it is not just a lifestyle choice. You can have a good lifestyle, do all the right things and still have a high A1c simply because you need to be able to avoid excessive hypos( in terms of severity and quantity of episodes).This is not a simple lifestyle choice, nor does it make you a feckless or immoral person because you want to be able to function properly and earn a living/ lead an independant life.What works for one person with D does not always work for another: the only thing that can guarantee perfect numbers is islet cell replacement in my opinion and that ain't going to be available to the majority of people here for a while( if ever). no matter how good a means of exogenous insulin delivary is it is never going to be a sgood as being on automatic rather than manual: the intricacies of our metabolism ensure this. why do some people for example get perfect round the clock sugars on lantus whereas others still really struggle becasue they metabolise the insulin differently or have differing insulin sensitivities at different times. Why is my A1c in the 7s when I am on a pump and still stricter than a lot of people are here( whether on a pump or not) regarding diet?It was in the 9s before and my GP said that this was due to my "lifestyle" as if I would choose to risk complications becasue of a love for junk food or whatever. Choice between debilitating hypos or increased risk of complications in my book, is not an acceptable one. Certain people who have tpye 2 diabetes may run into problems becasue of lifestyle ( if they are predominantly insulin resistant and do not adhere to healthy diet or excercise regimen to aid weightloss) but many are stricter than a lot of type 1s.Until people stop blaming it all on lifestyle and sitting down with patients giving them the time of day and working out a personalised reigmen and how to fit it into their desired lifestyle( within reason), nothing is going to change with this disease despite all the new insulins on the market
If a patient had cancer and their chemo was not working would you say to them that it was their choice, all down to their lifestyle?