Saturday, December 8, 2012

Dying Little Key Makers

Just so we are clear: because someone is overweight does NOT mean that they will become a diabetic.

It's truly sad that I really have to spell that out. The one thing that I have seen in the media, on blog comments, etc. that really angers me is when someone says that because I am fat I chose to become a type 2 diabetic. Is weight a contributing factor? Probably. The way my doctor explained it to me, however, is that there are little locked doors on each of my cells where sugar enters them. Insulin is the key to unlock those doors. For some reason my cell doors stop opening all the way when the key gets inserted (also known as insulin resistance). My cells then send the message that they are starving. So, the pancreas decides that it isn't making enough keys to do its' job successfully, so it starts requiring all the little key makers to work OVERTIME. (Imagine the hours Santa's elves are currently working and you get a pretty good idea of what is going on...). So the key makers put in their mandatory overtime hours and it seems to be working. However, the pancreas currently suffers from a hiring freeze and no matter what happens the little key makers won't be replaced.

Meanwhile, across town, the sugar storage facility (more commonly called the liver) starts receiving orders to distribute more sugar. When the pancreas hears this it goes,"Uh, what? We already have too much sugar and we're already working overtime to deal with this!" But the liver replies, "Sorry guys, the cells are claiming that they're starving. My whole purpose in life is to take care of those little cells out there and make sure they're happy. Send more sugar!" And, even though there's more sugar than they could use in a century cruising through their little industrial microcosm, the liver dumps more sugar out there for the cells to consume.

Meanwhile, back at the key factory, the workers making the keys start to drop like flies due to the 168 hour work weeks they've been working. It's slowly at first, but soon turns into an epidemic. With nobody to replace the dying workers the factory shuts down and all of a sudden the whole ecosystem collapses.

From what I understand (and I'm no doctor or specialist so this is the world according to Eric) they haven't found the cause as to why insulin resistance occurs. They have some pretty good guesses that seem to be leading in the right direction, but no set in stone answers. Genetics might play a role (my skin and bones vegan non-insulin dependent type 2 diabetic brother seems to confirm that one). Weight might too (me and my heavyset brother seems to confirm that one too). So might additives and preservatives in our food supply. So might... So might... So might... Well, you get the idea.

So, to come full circle, my weight does NOT mean that I CHOSE to become a Type 2 Diabetic. And I think it's pretty darn rude and irresponsible to say that to someone.

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