disability fact file ...

Diabetes

Diabetes is a medical condition caused by the body's inability to break down sugar into glucose energy effectively. There are two main types - insulin-dependent (ie those requiring regular insulin injections to survive) and non-insulin-dependent (ie those who don't).

Diabetes is an "invisible" disability, which is not directly obvious, so you may be forgiven for thinking that diabetic people are not oppressed by capitalist society. Indeed, in the mid-1990's, many people with diabetes - even including the British Diabetic Association - made the political mistake of considering diabetes to be "not a disability". This led many to distance themselves from the disability rights movement which was growing at the time. But, in late 2000, it once again became abundantly clear that diabetes did entail disability rights issues, when a schoolboy with diabetes was banned from a school holiday because of his disability.

Non-insulin-dependent diabetes

This is the more common type of diabetes, accounting for 80% of diabetic people. Otherwise known as Type II or (misleadingly and politically dubiously) "Maturity Onset" diabetes, because it occurs most commonly in older people.

Control of N.I.D.D. is achieved through a low-sugar and low-fat diet, sometimes aided by tablets. These tablets are not used by pregnant women so some women with N.I.D.D. may require insulin injections during pregnancy.

A contributory factor in the onset of N.I.D.D. is being overweight, although this is only one of many factors - others including stress and genetic links. Even so, the stereotypical and rather disabled-ist attitude that people become diabetic because they eat too much, still exists.

Insulin-dependent diabetes

Accounting for about 20% of cases of diabetes, the onset of I.D.D. tends to occur in childhood or young adulthood. Also known as "Type I" or "Juvenile Onset" (again very dubiously).

The onset of I.D.D. is believed to be caused by stress and by genetic factors. Although diet and obesity are not significant factors in the onset of I.D.D. (although they are still important factors in its control), people with I.D.D. do not escape the narrow-minded attitude that it affects them because they "eat too many sweets".

People with I.D.D. are at risk if their blood-sugar goes too high, in which case they may black out and die if not treated rapidly. This is rare since the discovery of insulin, and nowadays only tends (in the UK at least) to affect those who refuse to take insulin for political or ideological reasons.

Yet even slightly high blood-sugar levels over a long period of time can lead to complications, such as blindness, severe blood-circulation problems (especially in the feet and extremeties), kidney failure and heart problems. For this reason, people with I.D.D. now tend to keep their blood sugar at low levels, whichy has significantly reduced the occurrence of complications but which can lead to a further potential hazard.

If a (diabetic or otherwise!) person's blood sugar gets very low, they experience hypoglycaemia (referred to by diabetic people as a "hypo"). This causes dizziness, faintness, and in severe cases can result in a coma. In the latter case, death may result if treatment is not given quickly - although, now, deaths are rare and are mostly due to un-necessary delays.

A diabetic person having a "hypo" may appear intoxicated, which creates negative stereotypes - aggravated by the current "moral panic" about "drunken yobs". Indeed, there is a risk that young diabetic teenagers may be falsely accused of "under-age drinking" (a rather dubious law, in the first place) if they are unfortunate enough to have a "hypo" in a public place.

Many diabetic people can now control their diabetes quite well, and both complications and "hypos" are quite rare. However, this has not always been the case; insulin was only discovered in 1921, and control techniques - eg blood-sugar monitors, special syringes which allow careful monitoring of insulin dose, low-sugar foods, more flexible injection and feeding schedules ("regimens") - have been steadily developed. This means that times when control of diabetes was not so easy are still within living memory of many people - which helps explain why unjust prejudice against diabetic people still prevails.

How are diabetic people handicapped by Capitalism ?

• Many prejudices about diabetes still prevail, leading to discrimination in employment and leisure activities.
• Low-sugar and low-fat foods are generally more expensive than less healthy equivalents, which causes financial problems for diabetic people and others who must follow a special diet.
• As with many medical conditions, diabetic people are heavily reliant on the NHS - which has been cut-back in previous years, and more cut-backs may be seen as the "backdoor privatization" of P.F.I. goes ahead.
• The irresponsible marketing of "diabetic chocolate" and other "diabetic" foods continues, despite the fact that they contain more fat - and are therefore less healthy for diabetic people - than non-diabetic variants. Diabetes UK (formerly the British Diabetic Association) recommends low-sugar and low-fat foods/chocolate (although still in moderation). The worst case of irresponsible marketing is of "diabetic" drinks, at inflated prices, even though sugar-free fizzy and fruit drinks are readily available.
• The development of medecines (like insulin) are hampered by greedy pharmaceutical companies competing with each other, and refusing to share information - often patenting medicinal discoveries, for the goal of making quick profits. Under socialism, all knowledge would be pooled and medecines would be developed (and properly tested) for human need, not corporate greed.
• In many poor countries, medical supplies are scarce and many people - particularly those who need regular injections, like diabetic people - end up sharing syringe needles. This runs the risk of spreading HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis B, and other dangerous diseases. This problem, along with many other poverty-related problems in the Third World, would be alleviated if the Western bankers stopped demanding crippling debt repayments from poor countries.

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