While in the midst of writing some of this “myths in diabetes” series, I recalled some of my own misunderstanding(or gross misinformation) in the past before I learned more about diabetes.

I guess the biggest one was just believing that “sugar”, as it is called in my Caribbean home of
St. Vincent, was a nuisance but did not really DO anything. I was a kid and first hearing about this “sugar” when my mother was trying her hardest to convince my diabetic grandmother to take her medications and stop eating large quantities of sweet potatoes(her favorite foods) at lunchtime. In retrospect can only imagine how doubly hard this must have hit my grandmother as she and my grandfather ran a small candy factory, so sweets were literally a part of her life too. She was a strong woman, my grandmother, but also very stubborn. I think the combination of her own personality coupled with doctors who did not explain much at that time led her to pretty much ignore her diagnosis. She was a true matriarch of our family and it was terrible to see her after suffering a stroke that took away her ability to tell those stories that made us laugh, or to understand what we said that could make her throw her head back with that window-and-soul-shaking laugh she had. I guess this was her myth too, that diabetes would not do much but was just a nuisance.

What was your big misunderstanding before your or your loved one’s diagnosis? And how has it, if at all, changed for you?

Until next time, stay safe and healthy Everyone

Hi Everyone!

This week we start addressing some of the common myths floating around about diabetes. In my practice I have found that wrong information is responsible for a number of cases of “Diabetes gone bad.” I apologize to those of you who will find this information very basic, but starting from the ground up always seems like the best way to go.

This first idea, “Diabetes comes from sugar”, is one of the most widely (more…)