What's in a name? A lot! Calling the widespread phenomenon of insulin resistance we are seeing globally in America today Type 2 Diabetes creates the illusion of  a legitimate disease. I want to change that. I want the Super Human Nation to begin calling it what it should be called... Acquired Diabetes. That's what it really is!

Type 1 Diabetes is idiopathic and primary failure of the pancreas - meaning there's no scientifically detectable reason why it happens and its not a secondary result of some other disease. It generally occurs pretty early on in life and no amount of lifestyle changes, dietary variations or currently available  therapies can make the pancreas begin to produce insulin again. You must take frank insulin injections to manage blood sugar levels or die.

Acquired Diabetes is quite different. Its not idiopathic and its not primary failure of the pancreas. It's gradual. Its progression is scientifically detectable. Its a result of the over-consumption of the wrong foods, deranged sleep patterns, the lack of physical activity, the lack of critical nutrients in the diet and other controllable factors. Its a condition and not a disease. And its completely reversible in well over 90% of those who choose to live with it.

I wrote about this briefly in a recent blog post but decided that it needed expanding upon. If we begin to refer to this condition by its rightful name it places the burden of developing it squarely upon the shoulders of the person. Its not a genetic manifestation that one can simply say "well its not my fault.. I was born with this defect" like the Type 1 Diabetic. Its a series of choices that lead to developing it and its a series of choices that will lead one out of it to a healthy status again.

If we begin to call it Acquired Diabetes this may be the first step in resolving this problem. Ask yourself why someone would want to live with a reversible condition that will kill them even with pharmaceutical interventions? The answer is direct... they have been able to sidestep responsibility for developing the condition. By calling it what it really is, a condition that someone has given themselves, we can then begin to address the fact that it's reversible.

The Acquired Diabetic has been able to shield themselves from admitting responsibility of giving themselves this condition. Once they can no longer sidestep responsibility they will be viewed in the same light as any other person who chooses to participate in a high risk behavior like smoking cigarettes. We will have little sympathy for the illnesses that follow their high risk choices. They will be stripped of the disguise of a disease that has no reversibility. They will be unable to hide from the fact that they can reverse the condition if they choose to. Ask a Type 1 Diabetic if they had the choices the Acquired Diabetic has to reverse this condition if they would and I'm willing to bet each and every one of them would say yes!

This may seem like a moot point. Why am I raising such a fuss about a simple change in nomenclature? Because the medical epidemic we face in this country will never be solved though Universal Health Care. It will only be solved by the painful truth that those who are sinking this country under the weight of the unfolding health care debacle are doing so by choice. And while I will probably upset a lot of people with this.... it's unpatriotic to knowingly make choices that are contributing to the collapse of this great Nation under the weight of avoidable health care costs. There... I said it.

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