Many people assume that since lifestyle, such as sitting too much, over eating and lack of activity increases the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, then anyone who has it simply needs to get off their butts and move more. That simply is not true. There are other factors involved that prevent it from being a cut and dried situation. 

Genetics plays a role in the equation also. In fact, some people are almost assured to become a type 2 diabetic at some point in their life unless they have the time and ability to work out to the extreme and can afford a specialize diet. Even that does not guarantee they will never become diabetic.

![](https://steemitimages.com/DQmWQBzgq4x5n9LiSYDR1EJksJHYLF28ypPUq3o25mwGD49/image.png)

[image course](https://pixabay.com)
 
<h2>Partial list of World Athletes with Type 2 Diabetes</h2>

•	Patrick Peterson, Arizona Cardinals (2011–); cornerback
•	Jackie Robinson, Brooklyn Dodgers (1947–1956)
•	Jamie Dick, NASCAR driver
•	Arthur Ashe, Tennis
•	Billie Jean King, Tennis
•	Gary Hall Jr, Swimmer

[source]( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sportspeople_with_diabetes)

<h2>My personal story</h2>

My family has a genetic disposition of being overweight, type 3 diabetes, high triglycerides, and arthritis. We tend to have extremely large birth weight babies and for most of us, we remain larger than normal our entire lives, no matter how athletic we are.

Until the wreck in 2007, I was extremely athletic. A track star in high school. Competitive Softball and Volley Ball player until my mid 40’s. I also spent many hours gardening and hiking. None of that prevented me from becoming a type 2 diabetic. In fact, being a diabetic caused few problems until after the wreck that left me bed ridden for 3 years and to this day, I am unable to walk fast enough or far enough to provide much benefit.

<h2>Ethnicity plays a role</h2>

Persons born into specific ethnic groups have a higher chance of becoming diabetic in America. It is not known whether this is caused 100% by a genetic difference or if food sources available for these people causes a higher incidence. 

15.9 percent of Native Americans and Alaska Natives
13.2 percent of all non-Hispanic black Americans ages 20 or older
12.8 percent of Hispanics
9 percent of Asian-Americans

<h2>Poor people who do not receive food assistance are more apt to have diabetes</h2>

Poor people who do not receive assistance with purchasing food, have an increased chance of developing diabetes due to trying to save money by buying the cheapest foods. Almost all cheap foods in America are high carbohydrate foods which as the worst type of food a diabetic can eat. People who depend on donations made to Church’s and other Food assistance groups, have the same problem because non-perishable, inexpensive foods are the most apt to be donated. 
Many food stores will donate their day-old breads, cakes, cookies and other sweets. While this does help keep people from starving, it is the worst type of foods for a diabetic to have and is one of the many reasons why those with a limited food budget become diabetic.

<h2>Miss information, incomplete information and disagreement between doctors causes many problems.</h2>

Since the first day the internet was available to almost everyone, one of the biggest reasons for people to go online was to make money. Years ago, it was so called Adsense websites. Today blogging is all the rage. There is a lot of money to be made through these revenue sources and it is a legitimate way for people to earn money. 

There is one major problem however. You cannot believe everything you read, national media has the same problems we find in independent bloggers and adsense websites owners. Their information is only as good as their source and the ability of the person writing the article to comprehend what they read.
 
Sometimes, people intentionally mislead. They sensationalize headlines to grab attention or to produce as many articles per days as possible, they skim over information or don’t bother checking out their source’s source.

Sometimes it is unintentional, people trying to write about subjects they know nothing about and leaving out important information that makes their post give information that is dangerous to diabetics. For instance, I recently say a post on diabetes that talked about fried potatoes, fried eggs and tomatoes being a healthy breakfast for diabetics. They included a photo of a plate half filled with deep fried steak fries. The other half was the egg and tomato.

The article did not give any measurements on the amount of foods, leaving you to think, a diabetic could eat a large portion of potatoes at every meal. Diabetics CAN eat SMALL portions of potatoes as part of a healthy diet. Sadly, even the diabetes association does a poor job of explaining the “small portion” part of the equation. 1 potato small (1-3/4" to 2-1/2" dia.) has 29.19 carbohydrates. 

One of the most commonly prescribed diets for diabetics allows for 15 grams of carbohydrates per meal, for a total of 45 grams per day. The amount shown on the plate was probably at least a large potato, (3" to 4-1/4" dia), possibly more. One large potato has 63.24 grams which is almost 33% over an entire day’s supply.

<h2>One of today’s diabetes posts on Steemit</h2>

While writing this article, I noticed a post about a common drug is effective at preventing 60% of type 1 diabetes cases. They did not provide a link to their source (warning bells went off). They did make the statement “Story Source: Materials provided by University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus”. 

Luckily however, Good old Cheetah came along and provided a link to an article. The original post on Steemit was pretty much a copy and paste of the article Cheetah found. (more warning bells). At the end of the article, it provided a link, not to the article they found the info from, but to the main page of the University where potential students go to apply. (more warning bells)

It took close to 30 minutes and trying many different combinations of keywords before I found a link to an off-site report from CBS about a possible cure of type 1 diabetes in MICE. The word mice was conveniently left out of the posts.

<h2>Do your own homework before accepting any information as true. </h2>

You are the only person who can keep yourself safe from bad information. ALWAYS do your homework and ask your doctor before taking anyone’s advice. Finding these two examples of bad information in the Diabetic community on Steemit (within 1 day of each other) has left a bad taste in my mouth. I will be writing on Diabetes in the future to try to counter act some of the bad information out there. 

It is in your best interest to never 100% accept what I say. Double check because no matter how hard a person tries to ensure information is correct, anyone can make a mistake.

Sources:

[news-medical.net](https://www.news-medical.net/news/20180215/High-blood-pressure-drug-may-also-help-prevent-onset-of-type-1-diabetes.aspx)
[ucdenver.edu](http://www.ucdenver.edu/academics/colleges/medicalschool/administration/news/ResearchNews/Pages/Type-1-Diabetes-Cure-for-Mice.aspx)
[denver.cbslocal.com](http://denver.cbslocal.com/2012/03/09/cu-researchers-find-cure-for-type-1-diabetes-in-mice/)