Double Diabetes – An Increasing Epidemic
From the NY Daily News
As reported on ABC News, there has been a recent brouhaha over an inappropriate tweet made by the CEO of CrossFit and the ensuing Twitter exchange between him and singer/Type 1 diabetes advocate, Nick Jonas, regarding consumption of sugary beverages and developing diabetes. Some people misinterpreted the ensuing exchange as if CrossFit was claiming that sugar causes Type 1 diabetes. (It doesn’t. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease where the pancreas gets attacked by antibodies and can no longer produce insulin.) CrossFit then put up a Facebook post clarifying what they meant, saying their intention was to warn people that drinking sugary beverages can lead to Type 2 diabetes and wanted to help prevent people with Type 1 Diabetes from also developing Type 2 Diabetes.
Once again, CrossFit got pounced on by people misreading what they said and interpreting it as “Type 1 diabetes can ‘turn into’ Type 2 diabetes.” Hold on! “Can lead to” and “can turn into” are not the same thing.
Can a person with Type 1 diabetes also develop Type 2 diabetes? YES. It is becoming an increasing epidemic and is referred to as “Double Diabetes”.
From the Medscape article listed below: “It is quite possible to have a patient who develops DM1 due to autoimmune destruction of beta cells who also has the genetic predisposition for insulin resistance. Therefore, if this patient gains weight and becomes more sedentary, insulin resistance and features of the dysmetabolic syndrome could occur.”
From NY Daily News
Everyday Health has an article on Double Diabetes – published in 2009. This is not something new. You can read it here: The Double Diabetes Epidemic
While CrossFit’s tweet was uncalled for, and their lack of apology unfortunate – as well as doing a poor job explaining what they meant – the whole exchange did lead to more awareness of this important topic. Once the brouhaha is over, and the flurry of rants is over on social media, more thoughtful discussion can occur. The diabetes epidemic is real, and the double diabetes epidemic is real.
Scholarly articles:
- Metabolic Syndrome in Type 1 Diabetes from Diabetes Care
- Adult Patients with Type 1 Diabetes on the Metabolic Syndrome on Medscape
- Metabolic Syndrome and Type 1 Diabetes: Prevelance and Risk Factors
- Double Diabetes: The Search for Treatment Paradigm in Children and Adolescents from “Hot Topics in Endocrine and Endocrine-Related Diseases”