JDRF<\/a>. JDRF also notes, \u201cEach year, more than 15,000 children and 15,000 adults\u2014approximately 80 people per day\u2014are diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in the U.S.\u201d Or in other words, half of people diagnosed with type 1 diabetes are adults.<\/p>\nImmediately after saying that doctors don\u2019t know what triggered her type 1 diabetes, at one minute and twenty seconds into the video, Alesci says, \u201cit\u2019s a genetic defect, obviously, and as a result I\u2019m not producing as much insulin as I should be producing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Again, wrong. The correct explanation is:<\/p>\n
No one knows what causes type 1 diabetes. It is an autoimmune disease that occurs when the body\u2019s immune system misfires and destroys the cells in the pancreas that produce insulin. Insulin is the hormone enables us to get energy from food, and without it, a person will starve to death. So in order to survive, people with type 1 diabetes need to inject insulin regularly.<\/p>\n
Alesci\u2019s statement about not producing enough insulin is concerning because it misinforms the public about an important aspect of type 1 diabetes. In a person with type 1 diabetes, the pancreas, in most cases, stops producing insulin altogether.<\/p>\n
Eventually the segment cuts to some clips of Alesci checking her blood sugar and showing her \u201cgo low\u201d snack drawer. She does mention the need to eat \u201ccarbs\u201d (carbohydrates) when she has low blood sugar, but without more information, a person without any real knowledge of diabetes who mistakenly thinks that eating donuts gives you diabetes, would likely be thinking, \u2018\u2019Wait, why would someone with diabetes be eating carbs?\u2019\u2019 Moreover, it was a perfect moment to educate the public about the dangers of a low blood sugar. Instead, the Ms. Firfer quips about the \u2018low\u2019 height of the \u2018go low\u2019 drawer.<\/p>\n
What they could have said:<\/p>\n
Firfer: Why do you need the go low drawer?<\/p>\n
Alesci: It\u2019s really hard to dose insulin correctly. If I take too much I will go low and need sugar (carbs) immediately. A person with very low blood sugar can pass out, have a seizure, and even die. People with type 1 diabetes have to monitor their blood sugar constanly, and work very hard to stay healthy.<\/p>\n
We see many images of Alesci eating salads with talk of the need for healthy diet and workouts, but there is otherwise no other description or context for this. It just adds confusion for viewers and conflates type 1 and type 2 diabetes.<\/p>\n
I will circle back again to the empowering side of this segment. Alesci wants to show that \u201cdiabetes will not hold you back\u201d and I applaud that. However, she says this amidst an ending montage where she also claims \u201cI want to make a change, I want better research\u2026 you can make change for yourself and you can make change for the people around you.\u201d We see her taking another bite of salad as she makes these proclamations, so are we to assume dietary change is what she thinks is needed?<\/p>\n
And perhaps most confusing of all is the line that eating well and regular exercise help keep Alesci\u2019s \u2018\u2019insulin levels\u2019\u2019 stable. What she\u2019s actually doing is keeping her blood sugar level stable. Not to mention, it is the constant blood sugar checking, insulin dosing, carbohydrate counting and calculations that are also contributing to her stable blood sugars.<\/p>\n
CNN missed a golden opportunity to not only educate people with the facts about type 1 diabetes, but to show just how much work is involved in managing it every day. It is a true shame that CNN did not take more care to get the facts right in order to better represent life with diabetes.<\/p>\n