The Biggest Loser

Confession time...I am a reality show junkie. Ok, maybe not a junkie, but borderline obsessed with a few shows.



One of those shows that I love and never miss an episode of is The Biggest Loser, I love it. I cry during every episode, their stories are inspiring, they motivate me to try to take better care of my own health and, I'll be honest here...I do love the drama.



Last night I sat down in front of my tv after putting my girls to bed, anticipating another great episode and then...WTH?!? Did Dr. H just say what I think he said?!? I was one mad mama pancreas last night.



Dr. H. brought in each contestant one by one to give them the low down on how bad their health had become due to their obesity...here's where the mad mama pancreas part comes in. While talking to one of the men on the show he begins to talk to him about his diabetes. He asks doctor H. if this is reversible and do you want to know what Dr. H. said???



"Diabetes is curable, but you can't cure diabetes when you've got this amount of fat".



That's it....not type 2, just diabetes.



Now some people may ask, why are you so bent out of shape about that comment? Well, for me I feel that it's just one more tv doctor spreading miss-information. Ok, so type 2 diabetes can be "cured" with diet and exercise, as Dr. H. explains while he points to a big tv screen with a picture of this mans stomach. I feel that when a broad statement such as "Diabetes is curable" is announced on a tv show that millions of people are watching it only hurts those of us who are trying to raise not only awareness about type 1 diabetes but also trying to raise money to help fund research to find a cure for type 1 diabetes!



True story here...



My first year of raising money towards JDRF's Walk to Cure Diabetes, I had a friend collecting donations for our team. One of the people she was talking to about our efforts asked, "Why should I donate to that? They should just eat better". WTH?!? EAT BETTER!!! I wish that were all we needed to do to cure type 1 diabetes! This is where I feel that many people are miss-informed or simply know nothing about the disease and when we start having celebrity doctors only adding to the confusion it makes me wanna scream at the tv!


I know that the intentions of this show are to help people...and they are, they are helping so many people reclaim their health and really look at their diets and how active they are. This IS a good thing, I will still watch the show...I just wish they would be more specific when referring to diabetes.



I only wish that these celebrity doctors, talk show hosts, reporters, would state the facts...the real facts, not just broad sweeping statements that add to the confusion about type 1 diabetes. This is just one more example of a tv show causing disappointment and sadness...it really does hurt me, it breaks my heart to think that now there are even more people who may judge my kids because of this disease, that they may think that it's our fault or that we aren't doing enough to keep them healthy. That now there will be more people who will never give to JDRF or any other organization trying to bring us closer to a cure because of some tv doctor that didn't think about how powerful his words are.


Dr. H...I HOPE you will realize how much influence you have on the world, yes...it was just one sentence and, yes, some people may have known you were talking about type 2 diabetes and only type 2 diabetes, but...we owe it to our kids to get it right, let's stop spreading the confusion!