by Peter J. Nebergall, PhD
Includes photo of Peter J. Nebergall, PhD, with cat.
If you were drowning, and someone threw you a life preserver, you'd use it, wouldn't you? If you were jumping out of a burning airplane, and there was a parachute available, you'd use it, wouldn't you? If you had a serious medical condition, one that could shorten or end your life, and the medications to cope were at hand, wouldn't you use them? And what would you call somebody who didn't?
A recent large-scale study conducted by Pharmetrics, part of the industry association PhRMA, found, surprisingly, that between 17 and 33 percent of diagnosed diabetics took no action to control their disease. We are not talking about people with no health insurance, who couldn't afford medications (and God knows there are plenty of them!); they were factored out, as always. We are not talking of the "diet and exercise" folks, either. The study found that up to one third of people who knew they had diabetes, knew they needed medications, and had the means to pay for them -- were ignoring the condition. Jump out of an airplane, and don't pull the ripcord ...Why?
They call it "noncompliance" -- the refusal to "do as the doctor ordered" -- but, as scholar Lewis Binford warns us: "Description is not explanation" -- so to hang a particular label on a piece of aberrant behavior brings us no closer to explaining why people would do such a silly thing. Medical science can diagnose diabetes, and can give you the tools to cope, but for too many folks who should know better, it seems it's a case of "leading the horse to water." Medical science can't make people want to take care of themselves. As a matter of fact, the doctors and researchers are powerless here, and they know it. The health professionals can detail for you all the nasty consequences of inaction, of failing to take care of your diabetes, but that is by no means the same as motivating you to do the right thing. Pharmetrics' research suggests there may be a million Americans who know better, can afford to act, and don't.
Modern strictures upon plain speech, in the name of an ephemeral, fashionable "political correctness," have greatly damaged our ability to motivate and encourage sensible behavior. They have not, however, eliminated the distinction between right and wrong -- just made it harder for us to get it across; to say, of a given behavior: "That's nuts!" If you had a friend, or a relative, who had a family to live for, and the means to cope with a fire, or a flood, plane crash, ship sinking, tornado, or other disaster -- but didn't act -- would you wonder about them? Now, what about your diabetes?
Where do you fit? If you have been diagnosed with diabetes, are you doing what you can to cope, with the means you have at hand? Hopefully, you're not one of that 17 to 33 percent who, by their inaction, amazingly, are "choosing to go down with the ship." Diabetes is not shipwreck; they're not captains -- so WHY?
We know what to do about diabetes, how to diagnose it, and how to treat it, so as to ensure a long and healthy life -- but you, the patient with diabetes, have to faithfully execute your doctor's orders. Medical science can only go so far -- the rest is up to you. Think about it; your life is in your hands.