Diabetes claim - limited amount of sugar one can eat in their life?
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It is BS, because if it wasn't BS I'd have diabetes.2
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Your mom needs to find a new doctor who actually knows something about diabetes.
Just my opinion as that's so over simplified it's utter BS. It does not factor in physiological and sociological factors nor the predisposition that is passed through familial lines. It also does not factor in other items that could cause an otherwise healthy person to become diabetic. There isn't a magic "this is how much sugar you can eat in your life" number.4 -
Am I too late for the Ben & Jerry's?
Also, I don't really know, but it sounds like what the doc said is bro science.0 -
There are a lot of bad oversimplifications that the medical establishment uses to "explain" things to the public (who they tend to assume are scientifically illiterate). I once had a dietician start giving me an "explanation" of insulin which would have been at home in any kindergarten class.2
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sounds like maybe the doctor wants to scare your mom into cutting down on sugar. or he's like other doctors i've talked to who know very little about diabetes.1
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Ha ha Not true. My younger sister eats a lot more sugar than I do and I'm the one with type 2 diabetes.
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In defence of doctors oversimplifying things, a lot of people have no interest in the science and no motivation to find out, so it's better to give them a soundbite they can use as a guide to change their behaviour than to give them a lot of what is, to them, extraneous detail of no particular use that just confuses the issue.
I am a specialist in buoyancy and ship stability, and I have told people that "things float if they are lighter than water" and "ships capsize if they are top heavy". These are also oversimplifications to the point of wrongness. You may be thinking "but that's right, that's how I understand it, that's a perfectly good way to understand it" - and if you aren't in the position of having to actually keep a ship afloat at sea, yes, it is. And that's my point.
ETA just because it's wrong doesn't mean it's not useful. See also: headology, newtonian mechanics.5 -
This is a pretty good link for type 2
http://www.endocrineweb.com/conditions/type-2-diabetes/type-2-diabetes-causes1 -
Family in my genetic line tend to live long and have good strong hearts. The weak link is diabetes. It could be that our insulin resistance is on the higher end of normal, but we have fringe benefits.
Also a family trait; big teeth, small mouth. Which translates in to braces.1 -
CattOfTheGarage wrote: »In defence of doctors oversimplifying things, a lot of people have no interest in the science and no motivation to find out, so it's better to give them a soundbite they can use as a guide to change their behaviour than to give them a lot of what is, to them, extraneous detail of no particular use that just confuses the issue.
I am a specialist in buoyancy and ship stability, and I have told people that "things float if they are lighter than water" and "ships capsize if they are top heavy". These are also oversimplifications to the point of wrongness. You may be thinking "but that's right, that's how I understand it, that's a perfectly good way to understand it" - and if you aren't in the position of having to actually keep a ship afloat at sea, yes, it is. And that's my point.
ETA just because it's wrong doesn't mean it's not useful. See also: headology, newtonian mechanics.
While I understand your general point I think there is a difference between explaining buoyancy/ship stability and physical health. Oversimplifying to the point of being wrong on ship stability isn't going to affect my life as I'm not planning on piloting a ship. Oversimplifying when it comes to medical advice to the point of being wrong can be dangerous. Doctors need to inform their patients. This isn't a casual conversation at a bar or dinner party about what we do for a living--this is medical advice I'm paying for and planning to follow. If this doctor can't adequately explain in simple terms without completely blowing the science behind it then he/she needs to refer the patient to an endocrinologist who CAN simplify and give real medical advice.
I think you are comparing apples to oranges here, honestly.0 -
Call doctor with mom on three way or have her call alone and ask for elaboration. Something may have gotten lost in the translation.0
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Sounds like doc was dumbing down and talking down to you to get his point across.. stop eating sugar.
I'd get a new doctor.0 -
Call doctor with mom on three way or speaker phone and ask for elaboration for your mom. Something may have gotten lost in the translation.
speaker or not, to call the doctor is sound advice, but instead of a "more scientific" explanation, if it is not clear, I would simply ask "is there anything wrong with my mother? has she got IR/prediabetes?"1 -
Gianfranco_R wrote: »Call doctor with mom on three way or speaker phone and ask for elaboration for your mom. Something may have gotten lost in the translation.
speaker or not, to call the doctor is sound advice, but instead of a "more scientific" explanation, if it is not clear, I would simply ask "is there anything wrong with my mother? has she got IR/prediabetes?"
I meant maybe they could both be in the room at the same time on speaker phone for the call. -- just an idea0 -
Skyblueyellow wrote: »CattOfTheGarage wrote: »In defence of doctors oversimplifying things, a lot of people have no interest in the science and oo motivation to find out, so it''s better to give them a soundbite they can use as a guide to change their behaviour than to give them a lot of what is, to them, extraneous detail of no particular use that just confuses the issue.
I am a specialist in buoyancy and ship stability, and I have told people that "things float if they are lighter than water" and "ships capsize if they are top heavy". These are also oversimplifications to the point of wrongness. You may be thinking "but that's right, that's how I understand it, that's a perfectly good way to understand it" - and if you aren't in the position of having to actually keep a ship afloat at sea, yes, it is. And that's my point.
ETA just because it's wrong doesn't mean it's not useful. See also: headology, newtonian mechanics.
While I understand your general point I think there is a difference between explaining buoyancy/ship stability and physical health. Oversimplifying to the point of being wrong on ship stability isn't going to affect my life as I'm not planning on piloting a ship. Oversimplifying when it comes to medical advice to the point of being wrong can be dangerous. Doctors need to inform their patients. This isn't a casual conversation at a bar or dinner party about what we do for a living--this is medical advice I'm paying for and planning to follow. If this doctor can't adequately explain in simple terms without completely blowing the science behind it then he/she needs to refer the patient to an endocrinologist who CAN simplify and give real medical advice.
I think you are comparing apples to oranges here, honestly.
You may be right. This could just be a bad doctor giving bad advice. But the thing that is in my head, when I hear people concluding someone is a bad doctor purely on the basis that they use an oversimplification, is that the human body is so complex that ANY layman's explanation of any medical fact is to some degree oversimplified. How simple you have to go will depend on the patient.
Some of the people I have used oversimplifications for were actually operators of boats. I needed them to have some level of understanding in order to change their behaviour or accept the need for alterations to the vessel, but they were not qualified or receptive enough for a 2-hour lecture on the theory.
I personally like to get the real lowdown from doctors, or at least as much as they can give me, given that I am not medical, and they are happy to do so, but have often commented that not everyone wants that, and that for some people, knowing too much makes them more anxious and confused. For me it is the opposite. I can't blame the medics for taking these differences into account and not giving a technical lecture by default.2 -
I didn't conclude she was a bad dietician based on the kindergarten explanation. I concluded that she was a bad dietician based on the fact that she couldn't "upgrade" her discussion when I told her I had a PhD in chemistry and spent a month of a biochemistry class learning about insulin. Also, the inappropriate food plan she put me on.
I teach chemistry for a living. I'm fully aware that you have to tailor your explanations to your audience. But I also work very hard to keep the information accurate so that the students don't have to "unlearn" bad information later. I also think it's more productive to assume your audience is intelligent and interested then adjust accordingly if you find out you're wrong.
I won't judge this particular doctor because we're hearing about the conversation thirdhand - and a lot of information/context has likely been lost.2 -
IIRC OP, I think you have mentioned before that your mom lives in France and you are in the US? Is this a doctor she sees in France or someone in the US who isn't her normal doctor? Just wondering if there is any language barrier components to this confusion over what the message was?
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Call doctor with mom on three way or have her call alone and ask for elaboration. Something may have gotten lost in the translation.
My mom has diabetes. It started about 10 years ago.WinoGelato wrote: »IIRC OP, I think you have mentioned before that your mom lives in France and you are in the US? Is this a doctor she sees in France or someone in the US who isn't her normal doctor? Just wondering if there is any language barrier components to this confusion over what the message was?
No confusion, it's what she told me. She lives in France and her doctor is French. But of course she says a lot of nonsense and is clueless about nutrition, so whatever. I mean she's a diabetic but half her daily calories are from bread, then she'll tell me she'll have a small piece of cheesecake because she can't have too much sugar but has 2 tbsp of jam beforehand 'to finish her bread' or something)... and always telling me stupid things like 'you need to eat breakfast' or 'you need to eat more, it's cold out and you burn more calories in Winter' or whatnot... She's always been overweight too but has always been in denial and blame her kids for her huge belly.0 -
markrgeary1 wrote: »Right in line with your heart only does so many beats?
My middle school gym teacher told us this.
I have a congenitally fast heartbeat. This terrified me for years.0 -
markrgeary1 wrote: »Right in line with your heart only does so many beats?
Well, at some point you die and your heart will have beat only so many times, right?
Post hoc, ergo propter hoc.
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