OFF : lemmy's health, or lack thereof

[Nick Medford]

In message <jomIyBAYS5+6Ew3P at comics.demon.co.uk>, Jon Browne
<jon at COMICS.DEMON.CO.UK> writes
>
>Type I (insulin - dependant) diabetes, like me and Jerry Garcia, (when
>the pancreas no longer produces insulin) and Type II like Lemmy and
>Chris (!) where insulin is produced but is not mobilised properly and
>has to be facilitated by an oral agent such as Glucophage, are different
>conditions with similar symptoms.
>
>Neither of them are caused by abuse, or self-neglect.

Certainly Type 1 isn't.

>Yup, when you got
>them you sure have to control your diet and lifestyle, but Lemmy's Type
>II was not *caused* by eating sugar. If you're not diabetic, eating all
>the sugar in America won't make you diabetic, just overweight!

I hate to argue with you, particularly when the topic's obviously close to
home, but, y'know, it's a bit more complicated than that...

Type 2 diabetes usually comes on in middle age. Two-thirds of people in the
UK with this condition are obese. Granted, it's over-simplistic to say that
over-eating *caused* the condition. There are significant genetic and innate
biochemical factors involved. However: unhealthy diet is nevertheless a
significant risk factor for developing the condition, as is heavy alcohol
consumption. So while it may be true that eating lots of sugar and drinking
heavily won't make you diabetic if you don't have any of the other risk
factors, it's also true to say that if you *do* have risk factors, then avoiding
that kind of diet may allow you to avoid developing diabetes.

I'm a doctor by the way, and as I said before I feel rather uncomfortable
with the way we're speculating on Lem's problems here, but I also have a
thing about medical misinformation on the Internet, so I hope no-one will
be offended by this further post.

--
Nick Medford