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Misconceptions Of Diabetes Essay

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Misconceptions of Diabetes The convolutions of Western culture have led to a deceptive perception of diabetes. On a grand scale, the Biomedicine focused culture of the West has created an environment whereby diabetes is a patient-centered blameworthy disease, giving patients a false sense of victimization and fault for their diagnosis. The context behind their diagnosis is very seldom considered. The artifact chosen for this presentation was an infographic by the CDC for Diabetes. This infographic brings to the forefront many of the issues surrounding diabetes. For instance, the recommendation by the CDC in the prevention and management of diabetes is to lose weight, eat healthy, stay active, and work with a health professional. However, these recommendations do not take into account the social context and environment of many diabetics. According to a diabetes study conducted in 2011, 43% of families living below the federal poverty line find themselves at a scarcity for food (Levine, 2011). The study further found that staying active in poorer counties is found to be more difficult since poorer counties have a higher …show more content…

In the artifact, the tips given by the CDC do not equate to the reality of the lifestyle of most diabetics. Moreover, these tips create a social stigma around diabetics, creating an assumption that diabetics do not stay active, eat healthy, or willingly lose weight. This stigma is exacerbated with the fact that the mainstream culture of the West does not distinguish type 1 diabetics from type 2, giving type 1 diabetics the same social stigma as type 1s. In fact, a questionnaire conducted in 2014 found that 76% of type 1 diabetics felt stigmatized, compared to a 52% of type 2 diabetics (Wolf & Liu, 2014). Interestingly, type 1 diabetics cannot do anything to prevent diabetes, yet the blame associated with diabetes follows them

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