{"id":28007,"date":"2012-06-12T07:43:36","date_gmt":"2012-06-12T11:43:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=28007"},"modified":"2016-01-08T06:07:56","modified_gmt":"2016-01-08T11:07:56","slug":"laying-blame-why-do-people-get-diabetes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=28007","title":{"rendered":"Laying Blame: Why Do People Get Diabetes?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n

Why do people get diabetes? People get diabetes because they\u2019re fat. They get diabetes because they don\u2019t exercise. They get it because they\u2019re lazy and they lack discipline in controlling their appetites. They get diabetes because they\u2019re out of shape slobs. People get diabetes because they deserve<\/em> it.<\/p>\n

Most people won\u2019t say this to your face, but that doesn\u2019t mean they\u2019re not thinking it. The extent to which people believe that diabetes is the fault of the diabetic became very apparent, recently, after a finger pointing exchange about blame for the condition by two celebrity chefs. And what that reveals is an underlying societal discrimination of diabetics that could cost people their lives.<\/p>\n

In January celebrity chef Paula Deen<\/a> revealed she had type 2 diabetes. The creator of a hamburger featuring doughnuts in place of a bun was met with a backlash of blame. She was drawn into a kafuffle with fellow celeb chef Anthony Bourdain when he said he thought it was in \u201cbad taste\u201d for Deen to be dishing high fat Southern cuisine while she had diabetes and had not told the public about her condition. The implication was that Deen\u2019s recipe for loaded mashed potatoes was the food equivalent of a loaded gun because, clearly, eating such rich foods leads inevitably to diabetes.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople out there with diabetes haven\u2019t chosen this,\u201d Deen said in response to Bourdain\u2019s comment. \u201cIt\u2019s not their fault. So many things play into whether or not you get diabetes. I thought [what Bourdain said] was very, very cruel.\u201d\u00a0(prevention.com<\/a>)<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s when it got ugly. That was when people stepped up and, from behind their anonymous postings on blogs and Internet sites, laid the blame where they believe the blame belongs.<\/p>\n

\u201cLook people, there are consequences for what you put in your body,\u201d an anonymous poster wrote on thestir.com<\/a> in response to an article about Deen and how much responsibility she should shoulder for her condition. \u201cThis isn’t some autoimmune disease. It won’t \u2018just happen no matter what you do.” If you are taking dietary and\/or health advice from a woman who ate herself into obesity, you deserve what you get.\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s that word: deserve<\/em>. The \u201cthey deserve it\u201d argument isn\u2019t new to healthcare. People who smoke cigarettes deserve to get lung cancer. Gay men who engage in unprotected sex deserve to get AIDS. Overweight people deserve to suffer heart attacks. The \u201cthey deserve it\u201d argument, however, is more than just an opinion about Old Testament retribution for lifestyle choices.<\/p>\n

In the cases of AIDS, lung cancer, and heart disease, more people died and got sick than otherwise might have because the idea that they deserved to be sick was accepted on a mass scale. That institutionalized belief in blame restricted funding, which hampered research, which, in turn, cost lives.<\/p>\n

As an example, President Ronald Reagan spoke about AIDS<\/a> for the first time in 1987, more than six years after the virus was first identified. Between 1981 and 1987 almost 60,000 people had acquired the virus, and almost 28,000 had died. If Reagan had made a speech about the need for AIDS research and treatment in 1982, how many people\u2019s lives may have been significantly extended through research into creating more effective medications?<\/p>\n

With diabetes, we\u2019re in 1981. Paula Deen helps provide another example of how thoroughly accepted it is to casually blame diabetics for their diabetes. When Deen was poised to reveal she had diabetes, ABC News previewed her announcement<\/a> in a story called: \u201cPaula Deen to Confess She Has Type 2 Diabetes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Confess?<\/em> Don\u2019t people typically \u201cconfess\u201d to something they\u2019re guilty of, something they\u2019re to blame for?<\/p>\n

While it might seem silly to think the name of an ABC News story is a cultural bellwether, it\u2019s not once you look at some numbers that are representative of overall research spending. In 2006, according to the New York Times<\/a>, the United States government spent ten times more, per patient, researching cancer than researching diabetes. This despite the fact that the number of people with diabetes is on the rise, while the number of cancer patients is falling.<\/p>\n

One way to explain that disparity is that most people simply don\u2019t believe diabetics deserve more investment in a cure. After all, they\u2019re already getting what they deserve.<\/p>\n

For more from Alex O’Meara see his essay Curing Diabetes: Would I Do It Again?<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

People get diabetes because they\u2019re fat. They get diabetes because they don\u2019t exercise. They get it because they\u2019re lazy and they lack discipline in controlling their appetites. They get diabetes because they\u2019re out of shape slobs. People get diabetes because they deserve it….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":28012,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1435],"tags":[1181],"yoast_head":"\nWhy Do People Get Diabetes? Am I to blame?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Why do people get diabetes? Is it because they\u2019re fat, lazy, don\u2019t exercise and lack discipline. Do people get diabetes because they deserve it?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=28007\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Alex O\u2019Meara\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=28007\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=28007\",\"name\":\"Why Do People Get Diabetes? Am I to blame?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=28007#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=28007#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/FastFood-home.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-06-12T11:43:36+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-01-08T11:07:56+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/39a63c7215ee072a94bbc4a681de116d\"},\"description\":\"Why do people get diabetes? Is it because they\u2019re fat, lazy, don\u2019t exercise and lack discipline. Do people get diabetes because they deserve it?\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=28007#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=28007\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=28007#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/FastFood-home.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/FastFood-home.jpg\",\"width\":600,\"height\":341},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=28007#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Laying Blame: Why Do People Get Diabetes?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/\",\"name\":\"ASweetLife\",\"description\":\"The Diabetes Magazine\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/39a63c7215ee072a94bbc4a681de116d\",\"name\":\"Alex O\u2019Meara\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d46cda412d65fd79447ff39275a4856e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d46cda412d65fd79447ff39275a4856e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Alex O\u2019Meara\"},\"description\":\"Alex was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes 36 years ago. Since then he has run six marathons \u2013 the first when we was 15 \u2013 and the latest a few years ago. In 2006 Alex underwent islet cell transplant and was, for some time, insulin independent. He now lives in Southeastern Arizona where he is working on a novel, teaching college English, pursuing a Master\u2019s degree, and training to run his first 50 mile race.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?author=4\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Why Do People Get Diabetes? Am I to blame?","description":"Why do people get diabetes? Is it because they\u2019re fat, lazy, don\u2019t exercise and lack discipline. Do people get diabetes because they deserve it?","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=28007","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Alex O\u2019Meara","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=28007","url":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=28007","name":"Why Do People Get Diabetes? Am I to blame?","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=28007#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=28007#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/FastFood-home.jpg","datePublished":"2012-06-12T11:43:36+00:00","dateModified":"2016-01-08T11:07:56+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/39a63c7215ee072a94bbc4a681de116d"},"description":"Why do people get diabetes? Is it because they\u2019re fat, lazy, don\u2019t exercise and lack discipline. Do people get diabetes because they deserve it?","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=28007#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=28007"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=28007#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/FastFood-home.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/FastFood-home.jpg","width":600,"height":341},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=28007#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Laying Blame: Why Do People Get Diabetes?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/","name":"ASweetLife","description":"The Diabetes Magazine","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/39a63c7215ee072a94bbc4a681de116d","name":"Alex O\u2019Meara","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d46cda412d65fd79447ff39275a4856e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d46cda412d65fd79447ff39275a4856e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Alex O\u2019Meara"},"description":"Alex was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes 36 years ago. Since then he has run six marathons \u2013 the first when we was 15 \u2013 and the latest a few years ago. In 2006 Alex underwent islet cell transplant and was, for some time, insulin independent. He now lives in Southeastern Arizona where he is working on a novel, teaching college English, pursuing a Master\u2019s degree, and training to run his first 50 mile race.","url":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?author=4"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28007"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=28007"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28007\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/28012"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=28007"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=28007"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=28007"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}