False Diagnoses
Seven or eight years ago I was diagnosed with type II diabetes. Once this happened, I was sucked into a system which attempts to take control of my life. I was sent to visit a nutritionist who was clearly incompetent, repeating the advices from the food pyramid – which has clearly been shown to have no scientific basis. The person made recommendations about my diet without any knowledge of my level of physical exertion, exercise, living habits.
Whenever I went to see a specialist about a health problem, I filled out a medical history form, and included diabetes. Many of the dignoses which resulted referred directly to diabetes as the cause. This included erectile dysfunction problems when I saw a sex health specialist.
I decided to cure my diabetes condition, under the assessment that if I could understand what happened, I could probably find some way to reverse this situation. I set out to find the most knowledgeable person in Australia in the field of type II diabetes. I came across a specialist who was very firm that he was not the most knowledgeable, but could not refer me to such a person. However, he insisted that I took a series of tests to get a better understanding of my condition. When he reviewed the results of the tests, he said, very clearly, that I did not have diabetes, but I had a precursor to it called Impaired Glucose Tolerance.
When I asked him if this condition could be the cause of my ED, he was adament that it was not. I did not dare to enquire about all of the other diagnoses which had been laid at the diabetes feet.
So, the moral of the story is that if you are diagnosed with type II diabetes by your GP, make sure that you see a specialist in diabetes before you accept the diagnosis, because the word diabetes on your medical chart has such a biassing effect on diagnoses.
Editor’s note:It is important to note that many GP’s in Australia are excellent and well skilled in diagnosis of diabetes. There are strict guidelines for GP’s about how to diagnose type 2 diabetes and a series of steps must be taken to ensure correct diagnosis.
Most people wth type 2 diabetes will not need to see a diabetes specialist the majority of the time. When there are complex health problems this might be needed. Or as in this case, if you feel a second opinion is warranted.
Type 2 diabetes is made up of two parts – Insulin resistance and glucose tolerance problems. Often times a person starts with an element of this ( such as in this case) and if picked up and addressed, they can delay and even prevent ( in some cases) the progression to type 2 diabetes. Often, glucose tolerance problems are very indicative of type 2 diabetes being on it’s way.
Please remember each case is individual and we are all different.
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