OFF : lemmy's health, or lack thereof

[Douglas Pearson]

On Fri, 11 May 2001 12:19:41 +0100, Nick Medford <nick at HERMIT0.DEMON.CO.UK>
wrote:
>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,

I was under the impression that Garcia had type 2, developed in middle
age.  My mistake.  (I'll add that I have *some* experience with type 1, as
one of my childhood friends had it, so it was interesting to see him test
his sugar levels on a regular basis etc. ... and pretty scary to see a 10-
year-old shoot up, although not as scary as the one time he went into
Insulin Shock during recess.)

>>Neither of them are caused by abuse, or self-neglect.
>
>Certainly Type 1 isn't.
> [snip]
>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.

Exactly, one of those cases where *correlation* can be demonstrated, but
causality can not necessarily be proven (yet ... ?).  Thanks for clearing
that up.

>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.

I agree, speculation is pointless.  However, I think it's important for the
facts of the disease to be out there for those of us who are curious.
Especially since there are significant differences between the two types.
So Nick, all factual posts have been greatly appreciated.  Thanks!

    -Doug
     jasret at mindspring.com ( <= note new address!!! )

P.S. I hope that nobody construed my previous message as a "blame the
victim" assertion per se ... it was a general commentary on the fact that
we, as a society, tend to not be aware of the crap we put in our own bodies
(I'm as guilty of this as anyone else), and that it's not in the economic
interests of the producers of said crap for us to care.