1. Diabetes is not caused by taking excess sugary food.

Teacher: Junior, stand up! If Akin has 50 sweets and he licks 30 sweets, what does Akin have?

Junior: Diabetes. Akin has diabetes, Ma.

This is an old joke and probably the oldest myth about diabetes. Diabetes is not caused by ingesting excess sugar. Diabetes is caused by the inability of the body to take the sugar in the blood into the cells that need them. When we eat, glucose from the food travels in the blood and the glucose is to be picked up by the cells with the help of a hormone called insulin.  When people cannot produce or have deformed insulin, they develop diabetes.

2. There are two different types of Diabetes. And one has absolutely nothing to do with sugar.

Doctor: Mrs. Onyia, after the scan we have been able to see why your son is bedwetting.

Mrs. Onyia: Okay, Doctor.

Doctor: Your son has Diabetes insipidus
Mrs. Onyia: Diabetes?

Doctor: Diabetes insipidus. It is different from diabetes you know.

The term diabetes was originally used to describe a group of conditions characterized by excess urine production. Diabetes mellitus or DM is the diabetes type everybody is familiar with. The one that is developed when a person cannot produce insulin. Diabetes insipidus is caused when the part of the brain responsible for regulating urine gets damaged leading to uncontrolled urine production. It is not the same as Diabetes mellitus. The only similarity both conditions have is patients suffering from both have increased thirst and urinate frequently. When people refer to diabetes, they are referring to Diabetes mellitus.

3. Diabetes mellitus also has two types.

Diabetes mellitus or Diabetes (which is what many call Diabetes mellitus) has two types. Type 1 or juvenile diabetes occurs when the body is unable to produce insulin. It is usually diagnosed at a young age. Type 2 diabetes or adulthood diabetes occurs when the body cannot produce enough insulin. In some cases, the body produces enough insulin but the cells are resistant to it. It is usually diagnosed in adult life.

4. People that have diabetes are not lazy and fat and they did not cause their diabetes.

Lack, resistance, and insufficiency of insulin is the culprit in diabetes. Type 1 diabetes is a chronic autoimmune disease. The immune system attacks the cells that produce insulin so that the body cannot produce insulin. Nothing as of today can be done to stop the immune system from destroying these cells. It is also genetic. Type 2 diabetes is caused by a lot of underlying factors which include genetics, metabolism, underlying health conditions, some medication use, etc.

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