Rant: Diabetes
Aug. 17th, 2009 11:32 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wordinistaI've actually been meaning to type this out for days now, but quite literally have not had time to sit down, gather my thoughts, and write anything out. Things have been busy lately -- Gramps is doing better, thank goodness, and the things keeping me busy have been not all bad, so that's good.
Sometime last week, I can't quite remember when (and it's not terribly important anyway), Tora was watching the news (MSNBC, iirc). I was just getting out of the shower when I heard a woman speaking on the importance of universal healthcare, and cited, as support for her argument, the "epidemic of diabetes in this country -- diabetes, a preventable disease". Her point was, basically, that universal healthcare was the magic key to solving this diabetes epidemic.
Just to be clear right off the bat, this is not a rant on healthcare reform. My feelings on the matter are my own, and whether you're for it or against it, that's your business. No, these ranty-pants have been brought to you by the letter "D".
When I was in high school during the late 80's and early 90's, I was approximately 10-15 lbs overweight, and the equivalent of 2 or 3 bags of flour basically made me a leper during those years. I probably could've lost it if I'd really had any idea how, but my concept of dieting was incredibly skewed, and I couldn't stick to a diet because diets were inextricably linked to a set of moral scales; if I couldn't stick to an insane 800 cal/day diet, I was a failure and thus bad. It's taken a very, very, very long time for me to develop a less dysfunctional relationship with food. I'm there now, at 34 years old -- granted, I'm still overweight, but I'm well on my way to being healthier than I've ever been. I feel better than I've ever felt.
What does this have to do with diabetes? A lot, in fact. I drove by a local high school not too long ago, and was absolutely astonished at how many overweight kids there were. My younger self's excess fifteen pounds would've made me svelte by comparison. I've seen the news reports -- I'm sure we all have -- that childhood obesity has reached record numbers. And, yes, diabetes has reached record numbers in this country. Yes, I think it's entirely fair to call it an epidemic. But it's an epidemic of our own making, and the problem runs so deep in this country because it's cultural. The paradox here is that , despite the rising obesity (and consequential diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease), Americans also spend shocking amounts of money on gym memberships and fitness equipment.
We are a society of convenience, instant gratification, and a binge/purge attitude. And I'm not just talking about food, either -- we are a society addicted to excess in a variety of forms. Excess is indulgence, and it makes us feel good, whether it's in the form of food, or some shiny new tech-toy, or the super-ultra-directors-cut-boxed-set edition of some fantabulous Hollywood blockbuster. The point is, as a society, things make us feel good. Retail therapy helps us relieve stress; comfort foods make us feel better after a bad day -- this is so ingrained in our society that it's even a staple in pop-culture: after job-loss/romantic breakup/personal disappointment, fictional characters on TV and in movies turn to ice cream, cheesecake, cookies -- whatever. This is how we deal. This is what we do. Is it healthy? No, not really. But I also know that I was absolutely shocked when I discovered (yes, discovered) that one pint of Ben & Jerry's ice cream did not equal one serving. Yes, really. Shocked. And the really sad thing? I'm not the only one who's gone through that little epiphany.
Now, pair this love of excess with the puritanical moral gauge that basically dictates that denial = virtue. So nearly all of us, after enjoying a thorough bingeing of some sort, are faced with inevitable guilt for indulging ourselves, whether we gorged at an all-you-can-eat buffet, or spent too much at GameStop or Borders. (Trufax: I actually know people who feel morally superior to other people when they eat a bran muffin instead of a croissant for breakfast. I mean, really. That's just pure douchebaggery right there.)
This all makes for a pretty fucked up relationship with food. Even phrases like "I cheated on my diet" or "I was good today; I stayed under 1000 calories!" suggest that our worth, our morality is somehow tied into the food we eat.
Now take that dysfunctional relationship and place it in a culture obsessed with convenience. Pre-packaged/pre-prepared foods, fast food restaurants with drive-thru windows -- places catering to people pressed for time (which, let's be honest, is most of us). The internet makes life even more convenient, and between telecommuting and online shopping, if you played your cards right, you could manage to not leave your house at all.
Kinda scary, ain't it?
So we've got this completely dysfunctional attitude towards food -- food is bad, food is the enemy, if you don't eat you're somehow a better person -- and a general obsession with convenience. Even our entertainment doesn't require effort -- chatting, online gaming, video games, DVDs, streaming video. Screw not leaving the house -- you could, in theory, not shift your butt off of the couch (save for bathroom breaks) for an entire day.
So, really, to even make a dent in any sort of diabetes epidemic, you'd have to first get a whole lot of people to undergo a complete lifestyle change. And the problem is that too many people don't believe it could happen to them. Count Tora-kun as one of those people. Before his diagnosis, Tora-kun had exceptionally unhealthy habits. (He also reads my entries, so I will spare him the embarrassment of listing them. Suffice to say, he was not doing himself any favors. He knows this.) He knew he wasn't in the best health, but for whatever reason couldn't be bothered to make important changes to his lifestyle.
And then came the diabetes diagnosis. Cue: epiphany.
In the four months since, we've both made so many changes to our lifestyle that I barely recognize the people we've become. We get along better than we ever have, we're both generally happier people, and we're both losing weight and looking better (guys, guys, guys: my husband is hot). Has it been convenient to make these changes? Oh, hell no. But it hasn't been necessarily difficult either (okay, I lie -- walking the causeway after work is HARD). But our quality of life is so much better now than it ever was before. I know I'm pretty astonished.
But here's the kicker: there are still people who, even after they're diagnosed with diabetes, don't care. Tora-kun has a Diabetic Educator, who he sees about every three months; her purpose is to help him along with any questions he has or difficulties he's experiencing. She's also a pretty awesome cheerleader. She's shared with us success stories of people who have learned to live with diabetes and who've managed to enjoy an excellent quality of life despite it (and even people who have managed to go off medication entirely). But she's also shared stories of people who make absolutely no changes whatsoever, despite the diagnosis. They stubbornly refuse to make changes. Some of them refuse to take the medication. This baffles me.
Yes, Type 2 Diabetes is treatable. Yes, it's even preventable. But you have to give half a damn about yourself first; you have to take your health seriously. There has to be a willingness to make the effort, to make changes (and they don't even have to be drastic ones), despite inconveniences.
It's not hard to be healthy in our society, but it's so much easier to be unhealthy. And until our attitudes change, very little else will.
Sometime last week, I can't quite remember when (and it's not terribly important anyway), Tora was watching the news (MSNBC, iirc). I was just getting out of the shower when I heard a woman speaking on the importance of universal healthcare, and cited, as support for her argument, the "epidemic of diabetes in this country -- diabetes, a preventable disease". Her point was, basically, that universal healthcare was the magic key to solving this diabetes epidemic.
Just to be clear right off the bat, this is not a rant on healthcare reform. My feelings on the matter are my own, and whether you're for it or against it, that's your business. No, these ranty-pants have been brought to you by the letter "D".
When I was in high school during the late 80's and early 90's, I was approximately 10-15 lbs overweight, and the equivalent of 2 or 3 bags of flour basically made me a leper during those years. I probably could've lost it if I'd really had any idea how, but my concept of dieting was incredibly skewed, and I couldn't stick to a diet because diets were inextricably linked to a set of moral scales; if I couldn't stick to an insane 800 cal/day diet, I was a failure and thus bad. It's taken a very, very, very long time for me to develop a less dysfunctional relationship with food. I'm there now, at 34 years old -- granted, I'm still overweight, but I'm well on my way to being healthier than I've ever been. I feel better than I've ever felt.
What does this have to do with diabetes? A lot, in fact. I drove by a local high school not too long ago, and was absolutely astonished at how many overweight kids there were. My younger self's excess fifteen pounds would've made me svelte by comparison. I've seen the news reports -- I'm sure we all have -- that childhood obesity has reached record numbers. And, yes, diabetes has reached record numbers in this country. Yes, I think it's entirely fair to call it an epidemic. But it's an epidemic of our own making, and the problem runs so deep in this country because it's cultural. The paradox here is that , despite the rising obesity (and consequential diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease), Americans also spend shocking amounts of money on gym memberships and fitness equipment.
We are a society of convenience, instant gratification, and a binge/purge attitude. And I'm not just talking about food, either -- we are a society addicted to excess in a variety of forms. Excess is indulgence, and it makes us feel good, whether it's in the form of food, or some shiny new tech-toy, or the super-ultra-directors-cut-boxed-set edition of some fantabulous Hollywood blockbuster. The point is, as a society, things make us feel good. Retail therapy helps us relieve stress; comfort foods make us feel better after a bad day -- this is so ingrained in our society that it's even a staple in pop-culture: after job-loss/romantic breakup/personal disappointment, fictional characters on TV and in movies turn to ice cream, cheesecake, cookies -- whatever. This is how we deal. This is what we do. Is it healthy? No, not really. But I also know that I was absolutely shocked when I discovered (yes, discovered) that one pint of Ben & Jerry's ice cream did not equal one serving. Yes, really. Shocked. And the really sad thing? I'm not the only one who's gone through that little epiphany.
Now, pair this love of excess with the puritanical moral gauge that basically dictates that denial = virtue. So nearly all of us, after enjoying a thorough bingeing of some sort, are faced with inevitable guilt for indulging ourselves, whether we gorged at an all-you-can-eat buffet, or spent too much at GameStop or Borders. (Trufax: I actually know people who feel morally superior to other people when they eat a bran muffin instead of a croissant for breakfast. I mean, really. That's just pure douchebaggery right there.)
This all makes for a pretty fucked up relationship with food. Even phrases like "I cheated on my diet" or "I was good today; I stayed under 1000 calories!" suggest that our worth, our morality is somehow tied into the food we eat.
Now take that dysfunctional relationship and place it in a culture obsessed with convenience. Pre-packaged/pre-prepared foods, fast food restaurants with drive-thru windows -- places catering to people pressed for time (which, let's be honest, is most of us). The internet makes life even more convenient, and between telecommuting and online shopping, if you played your cards right, you could manage to not leave your house at all.
Kinda scary, ain't it?
So we've got this completely dysfunctional attitude towards food -- food is bad, food is the enemy, if you don't eat you're somehow a better person -- and a general obsession with convenience. Even our entertainment doesn't require effort -- chatting, online gaming, video games, DVDs, streaming video. Screw not leaving the house -- you could, in theory, not shift your butt off of the couch (save for bathroom breaks) for an entire day.
So, really, to even make a dent in any sort of diabetes epidemic, you'd have to first get a whole lot of people to undergo a complete lifestyle change. And the problem is that too many people don't believe it could happen to them. Count Tora-kun as one of those people. Before his diagnosis, Tora-kun had exceptionally unhealthy habits. (He also reads my entries, so I will spare him the embarrassment of listing them. Suffice to say, he was not doing himself any favors. He knows this.) He knew he wasn't in the best health, but for whatever reason couldn't be bothered to make important changes to his lifestyle.
And then came the diabetes diagnosis. Cue: epiphany.
In the four months since, we've both made so many changes to our lifestyle that I barely recognize the people we've become. We get along better than we ever have, we're both generally happier people, and we're both losing weight and looking better (guys, guys, guys: my husband is hot). Has it been convenient to make these changes? Oh, hell no. But it hasn't been necessarily difficult either (okay, I lie -- walking the causeway after work is HARD). But our quality of life is so much better now than it ever was before. I know I'm pretty astonished.
But here's the kicker: there are still people who, even after they're diagnosed with diabetes, don't care. Tora-kun has a Diabetic Educator, who he sees about every three months; her purpose is to help him along with any questions he has or difficulties he's experiencing. She's also a pretty awesome cheerleader. She's shared with us success stories of people who have learned to live with diabetes and who've managed to enjoy an excellent quality of life despite it (and even people who have managed to go off medication entirely). But she's also shared stories of people who make absolutely no changes whatsoever, despite the diagnosis. They stubbornly refuse to make changes. Some of them refuse to take the medication. This baffles me.
Yes, Type 2 Diabetes is treatable. Yes, it's even preventable. But you have to give half a damn about yourself first; you have to take your health seriously. There has to be a willingness to make the effort, to make changes (and they don't even have to be drastic ones), despite inconveniences.
It's not hard to be healthy in our society, but it's so much easier to be unhealthy. And until our attitudes change, very little else will.
