I wonder if there are any diabetics, whether you have had diabetes for a year or 35 years, that wouldn’t be ecstatic if a cure would finally be found.
Goes without saying? But that’s the problem. Diabetics don’t say it.
“Control” is good and keeps us alive. But wouldn’t “cure” be so much more preferable? Haven’t you ever wondered, with the tremendous numbers of diabetics and their families who must live with the stress of living with diabetes, why a cure hasn’t been found?
Why don’t millions of people affected by this disease unite to exert pressure so that the billion-dollar diabetes industry is targeted more efficiently? Instead of spending 165 million dollars on a study to “prove” that better control reduces complications, research money needs to focus more on finding a cure.
After all, if we could always maintain good control, it would be similar to not being a diabetic, so, of course, it would reduce complications. But #1- it is virtually impossible to always maintain good control and # 2- as the study says, it reduces, not eliminates complications.
Instead of blaming diabetics themselves for their problems, (well, if he/she had stayed on their diet they wouldn’t have these problems) , let’s start blaming this deadly and debilitating disease.
God knows I do not want to scare anyone, especially new diabetics, but only when everyone recognizes that diabetes is truly a serious disease, will anyone take it seriously.
I’m not saying that there are not countless other horrible diseases that act much faster and on the surface, appear much worse. Only diabetics themselves (especially severe and long-term victims), can truly appreciate the impact of this disease. This is why I believe it is diabetics themselves who must lead the fight to find a cure.
Twenty-nine years ago, when I first became a diabetic, there were reports that they were "on the brink" of finding a cure. There are still reports in newspapers, medical papers, and by associations making the same claim, but for me, after 29 years, these are wearing a bit thin.
If you are interested, please read the article I wrote 3 years ago in 1994, ( "Diabetes: Not a Simple Matter of Dessert Denial" ). If you have any comments or ideas on what or how anything can be done, contact me at dfgaston@geocities.com
Sincerely, Deanna the Diabetic
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email: Deanna Stewart-Gaston