I know what you are saying, Joanne @Jophilly, and feel the same frustration and when appropriate attempt to provide “diabetes education”, and have had my letters published in the local newspaper. And YES, the JDRF has Advocacy, perhaps you might be interested in involvement. You can find information at jdrf.org and by clicking the “Resources” tab at the top of this page.
Now to the bit that causes both your and my irritation; news media of all types “follow the money” and what attracts editor’s eye is the obvious obesity epidemic and many, even when saying “Type 2” are ignorant of the fact that “Type 2” is an umbrella phrase that includes MANY conditions “called diabetes” of which Obesity is the big fella. Turns out if anyone took the time when preparing a feature or newscast about diabetes that a glance might reveal the four (4) classifications ADA uses in its physicians’ guidelines - Classification 1, our Autoimmune Diabetes, stands alone with only a small fraction of “Diabetics” involved. No money there for the media. I use some of the following information for educational activities - the list below is NOT comprehensive.
The American Diabetes Association (quoted verbatim)
- Type 1 diabetes (due to autoimmune β-cell destruction, usually leading to absolute insulin deficiency, including latent autoimmune diabetes of adulthood)
- Type 2 diabetes (due to a non-autoimmune progressive loss of adequate β-cell insulin secretion frequently on the background of insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome)
- Specific types of diabetes due to other causes, e.g., monogenic diabetes syndromes (such as neonatal diabetes and maturity-onset diabetes of the young), diseases of the exocrine pancreas (such as cystic fibrosis and pancreatitis), and drug- or chemical-induced diabetes (such as with glucocorticoid use, in the treatment of HIV/AIDS, or after organ transplantation)
- Gestational diabetes mellitus (diabetes diagnosed in the second or third trimester of pregnancy that was not clearly overt diabetes prior to gestation)