November Is Past – Big Sad Sigh

This November was a big disappointment for an American Diabetes Awareness Month and World Diabetes Day. Number one, none of the US diabetes groups or organizations seems to want anything to do with the International Diabetes Federations blue circle. This is a disappointment for many in the DOC. This should mean that we will need to lobby the entire year to convert any organization.

Another disappointment for me is the total lack of promoting diabetes month or diabetes day on the HealthCentral website. We were regaled about Alzheimer's National Alzheimer's Awareness Month on the home page and Alzheimer's page. Only one diabetes blogger, Amylia Grace mentioned the diabetes day or month with no mention of anything by Health Central.

The bloggers that decided to write a blog each day, well that was somewhat better, but those that followed other's guidelines for daily topics, it was a little disappointing. There were some excellent blogs and I applaud those that took on the challenge. I like writing, but definitely happy that I choose my own topics and did not write for 30 days on topics of little interest to me.

I had hoped that the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists would have added to the approved and vetted type 2 diabetes resource sites. Since the original publication on September 27, 2011, nothing has been added to the list of 15 sites.

To pass out grades on the American Diabetes Month would be unfair. Activities are so disjointed and each organization has its own agenda. Forget about finding a common ground for increasing diabetes awareness, everyone wants to think their way is the best. So as a group, nothing of value is generated to aid in the fight against the increasing rate of diabetes diagnosis.

Until the people start demanding action and the medical communities realize that the diabetes pandemic will not go away, little will be accomplished. The divided we fail signs seem to have no meaning to the diabetes community. In addition, since diabetes seems to be such an invisible disease, people in general tend to ignore our cries for help.

I fear that until there is a change in culture, one that can get past the politics, uncaring people within the medical community, and the handouts and influence of the large pharmaceutical companies, there will be little accomplished in the near future. I hope that I can be proven wrong. At present, everyone is so enamored with his or her corner of the world; they seem to accomplish little for the education awareness about diabetes or making a change in the culture of diabetes.

What is up at Health Central?

There are some excellent diabetes bloggers writing for Health Central, but I do not know whether I am missing something, but with two diseases receiving national attention in the month, Alzheimer's and Diabetes, I would have thought Diabetes Month would have also rated some space. It is just for the number of times I have visited the site recently, I thought I would have seen something on the site about this being Diabetes month or that tomorrow November 14 is World Diabetes Day.

Granted, I have not visited the entire site, but the home page features National Alzheimer's Awareness Month, as does the page for Alzheimer's. When you go to the page for diabetes, nothing is mentioned about Diabetes Month or World Diabetes Day. This seems a little odd considering the bloggers for diabetes. Not only am I disappointed, but I am also wondering about the position of Diabetes Health. I have been skimming the site regularly since the beginning of November, but nothing appears on the pages for Diabetes, and Diabetes and Teens, about Diabetes Month or World Diabetes Day.

The official organizations representing diabetes in the USA may not agree on a symbol to represent diabetes, but they do recognize Diabetes Month and World Diabetes Day.  There are people trying to get the diabetes organizations to accept one symbol and I applaud their efforts. We need unity to give us recognition like breast cancer.

This unity needs to come from the American Diabetes Association, the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists, the American Association of Diabetes Educators and the JDRF. Presently all are going their separate ways and seem to have little interest in accepting something that the World Diabetes Federation is promoting for the world. Many in the diabetes online community are working to bring this about, but Health Central is not one of them.

Lesson to be learned

Before doing this, I had to do some hard thinking and get back to my positive side.  If you are interested, please read a post by Dr. Bill Quick at My Diabetes Central.  He did an excellent post correcting information put in the public domain by the American Diabetes Association.  This information was, to say the least, poorly thought out and not the full truth.

I must thank Tom Ross for his blog of Nov 9, 09.  I agree with his analysis of a common concern of newly diagnosed people with diabetes.  Most do seem to want the "rules" that they can follow to be able to be compliant with their doctors' orders (if indeed the doctor ordered anything).

I belong to a couple of forums about diabetes and this repeats itself very often.  All are searching for some simple rules to get their blood glucose under control so they can return to living.  They do not realize that diabetes is a 24/7 problem they must deal with.  Many, but not all, do not want to hear what they are told and never post again.  Others take a different tack and reposition their question to elicit a response more in their favor.  Failing with this, they post the same or similar questions on several forums.  A few wake up, pay attention, and proceed to ask the real questions.  They are receptive to the variables and the idea that the "rules" are the ones they discover about their own situation and body chemistry.

We can tell people that "what works for me, may not work for you", but many do not listen.  When something does not work, they blame the forum and its' members and do not return.  They keep looking on other forums for answers, but do not find them and never post again. 

I may be wrong, but "rules" and "quick fixes" seem to be at the top of a list of what these people are looking to find.  Few are type 1's, but the majority are type 2's.  Many, unfortunately, do not have insurance and are unable to do everything they should to test as frequently as they need to for determining what foods their body is capable of handling.  Controlling their blood glucose now becomes a problem which the doctor often can not help.

Since November is diabetes awareness month, there are many bloggers putting out some excellent blogs for diabetes awareness.  Hopefully they are reaching more than just fellow bloggers.  I am listing several that have something to say.  Amy Tenderich has an excellent blog on Nov 13 about some interesting technologies on the horizon (and in the near future I hope).

The over commercialization of diabetes and the attempt to take advantage of people with diabetes is the subject of posts by Janet Rulh on Nov 8 and Scott Strumello on Nov 13.  They both make valid points that must be considered and expose some of the shortcomings of diabetes awareness month and diabetes day (Nov 14).  I admit that I was unaware of what happened during diabetes awareness month other than it was a month on the calendar.  I had never heard of diabetes day.  Some bloggers are doing a lot within the diabetes community, and a few are actually channeling their efforts outward to the public to make them more aware of the truth of diabetes.  This is where I hope to make some effort next year. 

I appreciate Scott Strumello's blog about dogs for the hypoglycemicly unaware.  He listed one supplier that is being sued by the State of Missouri for violations, but otherwise the blog was good to put in front of the people.  This is a repeat for a previous post.

George Simmons took a different view of veterans's day.  Since he is unable to serve his country in the military, he has chosen to view himself as a veteran in his war on diabetes.  Good interpretation and a worthy cause George.