eating bad food leads to type 2 diabetics

It is 10:50 am and I am watching "Everyday History" on the Discovery Channel; they are doing a story about UFOs. I was reading through my diabetes blog material and was thinking about a black family I saw in the late 1960s. This family (Dad, Mom and Daughter) worked at the Keesler Air Force Base theater popcorn stand in Biloxi Mississippi. They were a curiosity because they were quite fat. (That was in the late 1960s; I don't know that they are diabetics but I'd be surprised it they were not!)

My Mother said they were so fat because they could not afford good (healthy) food.

I have  since learned that being fat is generally a prime prerequisite for type two diabetes. By the logic of

if A ⇒ B and B ⇒ C then A ⇒ C

Apply this logic and you get:

if eating bad food ⇒ obesity and obesity ⇒ type 2 diabetes

then

eating bad food ⇒ type 2 diabetes

Assuming my premises are correct and the form of the logic chain is correct (it is!) then I have just logically proven that eating the wrong food leads to type 2 diabetes.

NOTE: The character ⇒ is "implies".

my fear of insulin and how I sort of got over it

I was diagnosed as a type 2 diabetic on 7 May 2004. I was told that I'd be on 750 mg Metformin twice a day. Abut a year later, it went up to 1000 mg, twice a day. I began to dread the notion of having to "go on the needle": that is, start using injected insulin or other drugs. I was very opposed to this.

There have been three times diabetics nurses have tried to get me to start using something injected. Each time, Dr. Hostetler agreed (cooperated with) to my desire to remain on pills. I don't think I was afraid of having to inject myself. After all, I had gotten used to checking my blood sugar so it couldn't have been that fear. However, I don't know how the pain level would be changed by the addition of adding the injection phase to the stabbing phase. (I see a hypodermic injection event as first, putting the needle in and second, injecting the liquid.)

I was afraid of the various side effects like

1. having to check my blood sugar more frequently,
2. the pain of the injections,
3. my schedule changes so often, how would I arrange injection times when we had severe weather when I was working evenings,
4. I would have to fear hypoglycemia,
5. simple fear of the unknown.

My Father and youngest brother "went on the needle" and both died young.. My Father at age 68 (I was 42 when he died and 68 seemed old; I am 58 now and 68 doesn't seem old!) and my brother Charles Andrew Bell died at 44 years, 1 month, 8 days (that was too damn young!) So, what is the relevance of this?

That both went "on the needle" and died young. I have been terrified that I would "go on the needle" and die young as well. I've been told this is nonsense and have not believed it. I have also been told I am not being rational (I agree with that!) and Kathie thought I was being a "drama queen" (what ever that is supposed to be).

My fear ignores that my Father smoked 2 to 3 packs of cigarettes a day for maybe 35 years and drank a bit (not the alcoholic my sister-in-law Denise thinks he was); he lost a lot of weight and tried harder to live right that I have. Shit! Charlie smoked too, claims to have snorted coke (not the beverage!) in the 1980s and did not "eat right". (I suspect he could not afford to eat right.)

I told Dr. Hostetler that "i guess I'll jump off the cliff". I wanted to say "jump into the abyss" but I restrained. Dr. Hostetler replied "that's silly". I said "I guess you're right". "It's like jumping off a step stool".

OK, I guess I can't argue with him there and I suddenly had a revelation: I'm not horrified by the idea of inject able drugs; I'm almost ready to try injecting.

The needle is just another way of getting diabetic drugs into my body; just an alternative to pills. Being diabetic is not about taking pills or shooting up something, it is about having shity "control" of my blood sugar and dealing with the consequence


I have had to give up the idea that if you are not on insulin, you are not a real diabetic. I was wrong; if you're diabetic, you're a diabetic. Get over it!

NOTE:  The image comes from page 47 of the graphic novel version of "I Am Legend" by Richard Matheson and illustrated by Elman Brown and I have used it in what I believe to be "fair usage".

Wink Hartman and 'Obamacare'

Wink Hartman is a Kansas politician who is running for the House of Representatives. He is a self professed Conservative.

According to his issues page, he also wants to get rid of "Obamacare". " Obamacare" will mean a number of uninsured people will actually get health care insurance. Wink asserts that "The bottom line is that 'Obamacare' will decrease the quality of our health-care plan..." but doesn't offer any proof.

Does he want to go back to the days of uninsured sick people going to the Emergency Room for issues that should have been resolved in an MD's office? Oh, wait, I forgot; you have to pay an MD, who can refuse you service but an Emergency Room has to take whoever shows up!

My youngest brother was a juvenile onset type 1 diabetic and either had no health insurance or absolute horrible health insurance. He died at the age of 44 years, 1 month and 8 days. I think my brother might have lived a lot longer if he'd had health insurance and thus regular access to a family MD.

How many others like him are out there without health insurance? I have a friend with two juvenile onset diabetic grandchildren; he's worried about what these kids will do when they no longer are covered by their parent's health insurance.

The very 'Obamacare' Wink disparages might have saved my brother's life. We'll never know. What we do know is that "Obamacare" is the best hope many such people have!

my fears

I have been a type 2 diabetic since 7 May 2004 and you would think I would be more settled in with my condition. Actually, I was. From 2004 to about 2008 I was gradually getting calmer. Then, I was reasonably calm and working out and trying to lose weight from around 2008 to 2009. It was in mid 2009 that I started getting far more concerned about having to start injecting anti-diabetic drugs.

I was quite relieved when Dr. Hostetler told me in November 2009 that I was good to go with pills. Now, I look at the weekly scores and that I'm not losing any weight and I am once again afraid that I'll end up on the damned injected drugs. I fear injected drugs since such things are the last step in full acceptance of being diabetic and there is no where to go once I am on the needle.

Shit!

Nehemiah
Scudder