There Is No Cure for Diabetes.

Excellent blog! Just a word of clarification. Halle Berry probably doesn't even know what type of diabetes she has.
But there is a type, called variously Type 1b, Ketosis-Prone Type 2, or Flatbush diabetes, in which the person presents in ketoacidosis and appears to be a Type 1. However, after BGs are brought under control, the person can go off insulin, and it begins to act more like Type 2. This type occurs almost entirely among blacks, although I recently read of it occurring among Asians and Native Americans as well.
I would agree that Halle ought to get more educated about her diabetes, but make no mistake; she DOES have it. For more information about this type, google Michael Barker, who runs a very good webpage about it.

My mom has it. Her dad has it and her grandpa died from it. My best friend was diagnosed 2 days ago at 28. Today she will find out if it is type one or two. It sucks. I actually wrote about it today.

Katy's Mom

For more of my misadventures in parenting, please check out my blog www.iamkatysmom.blogspot.com ( http://www.iamkatysmom.blogspot.com )

"I'd like to be the ideal mother, but I'm too busy raising my kids."

As a fellow type 1 (12 years and counting), I've said many times in the last few years that the rising rate of type 2 made things easier and harder for me. Easier because I no longer get the shocked looks when checking my sugar, almost everyone I meet recognizes my meter as a meter, and there's more general knowledge out there(no one thinks I can't eat sugar anymore, for example). On the flip side, all this general knowledge has many people thinking they know more than they really do. I must have 'severe diabetes' to need a pump or to check my sugar so often, I must have eaten poorly before I became diabetic, I must not take good care of myself if I can't manage it without medicine, etc. Frustrating!

And Hollywood tends to hurt as much as they help. Anyone remember 'Panic Room'? A little diabetic girl can't get to her insulin and *gasp* her sugar goes dangerously low. So the sympathetic crook let's her get her shot and all is well. Except that the last thing a low blood sugar needs is more insulin and the kid would probably have died or had severe brain damage if she'd been pumped full of it when already low. Things haven't improved-I watched the pilot episode of 'Blue Bloods' and lo and behold, a diabetic girl who was going to die if she didn't get her insulin within a few hours. Yes, a high bllod sugar is bad, but enough to kill you in under a day? No way. Not to mention they called the potential disaster 'insulin shock'.

I'm rambling a bit :-). Kudos to you for speaking your piece and know you've got plenty of us thinking the same thing.

Thank you for bringing this out. Unfortunately, many celebrities seem to think that their fame gives them authority to speak, but they don't do their research an' that's a dangerous thing.

I was going out to meet myself, but had to stop because
Myself was coming back from there; I wasn't where I was. ~ Yaya

My grandma was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes when she was in her 30's. She was young, healthy, and skinny. She has always been very careful about her diet, and she takes insulin every day. Now she is almost 90, and very healthy.

In contrast, there is a man at my church who also has type 2 diabetes. He is also very skinny, and is in his mid 40s. He has 7 children between the ages of 21 and 4. He refuses to take insulin, and is trying to manage his diabetes with diet and exercise alone.

And he is dying.

Life in the Pitts
http://www.lifeinthepitts.com/

Roxana, the AviddivA Coach

I commend you on such a great explanation of the differences between type 1 and 2. Ever since a close family member was diagnosed, I always get them confused.

I can see how passionate you are about the topic so I hope the question I am going to ask you does not offend you: In the case of Type 2 specifically, if the person can manage the condition through diet and exercise and never has to take meds again, isn't that in a sense a cure? Don't we all have to watch our weight and health to not get Diabetes 2 in the first place? Maybe that is the reason why so many people get confused. The reason why I ask is because my family member got diagnosed about three years ago and after the initial month of getting his sugar from over 500 to under 100, he has being able to control it with exercise (his eating habits are not the greatest, although he did stop drinking soda and now drinks a lot of water). He is not a celebrity like the two people you mention and if you ask him, he says he is cured.

This debate reminds me of the pre-diabetic vs diabetic debate. Depending on which doctor you ask, you are either diabetic or you are not, there is no pre-diabetic. Maybe some people are "pre-diabetic" and only had one big episode and after that they don't ever have it again. It happens with asthma. I think this issue has more to do with the fact that diabetes is more of a condition than a disease, or at least that is what people see it as?!? Just curious on your thoughts on the matter and keep up informing people.

I hate the power celebrities have all together. Anything they say, people take for fact. My main pet peeve is when they endorse politicians. They are just actors.. that read lines.. and people take their word as gold because they are well known? too much power.

My husband has type 1 too. Everyday I hope and pray that a cure is found one day but as of right now.. there's no cure and that is extremely sad. Don't give up hope for a cure.

I was quite surprised to learn from someone that for certain subtypes of Type 2 diabetes there is a surgical cure. Unfortunately, it is only available in parts of Europe.

I don't remember the details, but the woman had the surgery for other reasons and her Type 2 was gone. It seems that because of the stress of the "cure", most doctors do not feel comfortable using it. (A case where the cure may be more hazardous than proper management of the disease.)

MLO / Melissa

Books, Movies, Games, Ovarian Cancer, and Life in General at http://www.mloknitting.com/

I do what I can to keep my blood sugar under control, and it is not easy. My husband is one of those people who thinks I am not trying hard enough, that I should be able to get off of the medication if I "really wanted to". I have invited him to come to the doctor's office with me so the doctor can explain it to him....
Halle, I thought you were smarter than this!

Read the latest at http://fabgrandma.blogspot.com/

I appreciate your bringing this forward. There are just too many misconceptions around Diabetes.

Trish - SWC & BSW, ECE

www.ceilidhontherun.com ( http://www.ceilidhontherun.com )

Yes, sixuntilme, I can totally understand your feelings. When any public personality is newly diagnosed with an illness you've been struggling with for decades, it's extremely frustrating - and even counterproductive - when they disseminate misinformation, no matter how innocently.

They want to be 'cured' of, or manage, their illnesses as much as you and me - but they're public people, so coping with chronic illness is perhaps even rougher for them than it is for everyone else. And they often jump the gun to announce new or experimental treatment options that prove to be very premature and even deleterious.

Remember Patrick Swayze's various experimental treatments that were reportedly improving or stabilizing him? I know pancreatic cancer's not anywhere near comparable to a non-fatal chronic illness like Diabetes I, but can you imagine the hopes that were raised - and dashed- in those who looked to him for guidance? I'm certainly not suggesting at all that it was misinformation in his case, only that public personalities often tend to take bigger treatment risks, as everyone else watches with bated breath. Expectations and hope rise exponentially, and their successes and failures are amplified.

I think it's fair to say that celebs fall into a different category in terms of what they're willing to do to manage, and how they publicize, their illnesses. While they (including Patrick) may not always be accurate, they do draw attention - and sometimes vital research funds and even legislative assistance or NIH funding (e.g., Michael J. Fox & Parkinson's; Chris Reeve and spinal cord injury) that 'normal' folks generally wouldn't be able to secure.

Also, since they're always in the spotlight, celebs can also provide tremendous motivation for other people with the same illness. And sometimes they even get the facts right......

But yeah, hearing the public loudspeakers broadcasting wrong facts or foolish errors IS really really hard to take.

I have a friend who's very much into raw foods, vegan lifestyle, etc. She is constantly promoting that diabetes can be "cured". When we discuss it, the words she always uses are "lower medication dosages" or "take less medicine less frequently".

Taking less meds or lower doses is not mean you are cured!!

Yes, my Type 2 can be managed or controlled by exercise, healthy eating, and making better lifestyle choices BUT it is a disease I will always have to watch out for because if I don't do those things, I will get sick again.

Elizabeth

@texasebeth ( http://twitter.com/texasebeth )  and My Life, such as it is.... ( http://texasebeth.blogspot.com )

for this post. I find that people who aren't directly affected by the disease often don't understand that there is no cure -- just like I am naive about many other diseases that don't impact me. My husband was diagnosed with type 1 at the age of 12 (he's now 38) and it did take some time to educate my family. If my mom were to hear someone like Halle Berry make a comment about being cured of type 1, she would immediately come to me and say, "look at this, your husband can be cured."
As a type 1 it doesn't matter how much control you have -- you will always need insulin until research brings about a way for type 1's to produce it on their own. We are hopeful that one day down the line that will be a reality.

I commend Drew Carey for taking great control of his T2 right away. Weight loss, exercise plan, diet changes - awesome. Let's see how long it will last - let's see how he is doing in a year, in five years. I don't want to be a downer, but all that enthusiasm all at once? It can lead to burnout for some.

Like Jenna's grandmother, I have found times of excellent management...and I have found times of severe acute illness where management took second place (and therefore, suffered) to taking care of the more immediate medical needs. And that has kept the type 2 diabetes diagnosis from slipping off my radar...and my medical record.

I hate that the word "cure" is thrown around so often and so easily - particularly by those with power.

Thank you for writing this, Kerri.

~Denise
BlogHer Community Manager
Life. Flow. Fluctuate.

My grandmother was diagnosed with Type 2 at the age of 64. Her mom was as well at the same age and died within a year as she couldn't get things under control (technology was different then, no?). My grandma did a great job of getting her sugar levels under control and actually was able to goo off medication for awhile... but, as you said, the disease doesn't just magically evaporate. When life threw some changes at her, her doctors found it best to put her back on medication in hopes of getting her sugar back under control. She's rolled with the punches as best possible (fighting breast cancer all the while) and watching her has given me hope that if diabetes is in my future, it won't have to control my life, even if it is a forever part of it. (My grandma is kind of awesome.)

Contributing Editor Jenna Hatfield (@FireMom ( http://twitter.com/FireMom )) blogs at Stop, Drop and Blog ( http://stopdropandblog.com ) and The Chronicles of Munchkin Land ( http://thechroniclesofmunchkinland.com ). She is a freelance writer and newspaper photographer.