Oprah and Diabetes
Friday, February 5, 2010 at 9:14AM I have already read a few posts about the Oprah show that aired yesterday. Here’s my take.
EPIC FAIL!
Here are the fail moments and why they are fails in no particular order.
FAIL - Oprah shows a clip of a lady who has to have dialysis and who has had several amputations due to diabetes complications. After they go back to the O’s (how I will refer to Dr. Oz and Oprah) Oprah asks if she is type 1 or type 2. I did give a snap up for Oprah for asking. Dr. Oz said that she was a type 1 and her pancreas did not make enough insulin but that there were going to focus on type 2’s.
WHY – Two reasons. First, being type 1 does not mean you pancreas is not making enough insulin, it means NO insulin. NONE. ZIP! ZILCH! Get it? And why show all of these awful complications to scare us and then say, oh we are not going to talk about that type of diabetes. So a type 1 was humiliated, probably embarrassed and ashamed to show the possible results of neglect in hopes, I would imagine, that Oprah was going to tell about her disease and it is flipped and used as a tool to scare type 2’s. Which could be the third fail here. I know that fear motivates some, but not most.
FAIL – Diabetes is going to bankrupt the healthcare system. The O’s talked about how expensive diabetes is and how it is the most expensive disease to treat.
WHY – They needed to say that dealing with diabetes complications is the most expensive thing to deal with. Not just diabetes. Diabetes causes all kinds of problems that with preventative care, which is not where most of the money goes, would be lessened. That was never the focus. It made me think that non-diabetics are going to say, just let them die, they did this to themselves. That is how it was presented.
FAIL – No Endo.
WHY – How can you talk about diabetes,want to educate, and “SAVE MILLIONS” Oprah and not have a specialist on your show? You wouldn't have a show about the dangers of cancer and not have an Oncologist as a guest, right? I don’t understand. To make the diabetes picture complete you should have had an Endocrinologist, CDE, Podiatrist, Dietician, Ophthalmologist, and even a therapist to discuss every angle of this “SILENT KILLER.” (I could probably add more people to the list)
FAIL – The focus on Sugar. They kept showing teaspoons of sugar to measure how bad foods are. They showed Ranch Dressing, Ketchup, and other sauces.
WHY – Carbohydrates are the issue. Sugar is a carb but looking only at sugar content is not correct! It makes Sugar Free products seem safe and also a stack of French fries if not covered in ketchup. Wrong! Wrong! And WRONG!
FAIL – Dr. Oz said that the more insulin you take, the worse your diabetes is.
WHY – This royally pissed me off. I personally know several type 2’s that think if they take insulin that it is all over. That insulin means they have failed. That is not true at all. Insulin can be just the thing they need to save those eyes, kidneys and limbs. Shame on you Dr. Oz.
There are still more issues I have with this show, like why they didn’t have a diabetic who has had the disease for a very long time and who was healthy. There was no positive at all in my book and I am deeply saddened that the O’s didn’t do the job I hoped they would.
I am still hopeful that someone will get it right some day.
Hey Ellen, I have an idea for a show.
Reader Comments (22)
Great post! I very much enjoyed the breakdown...."this is what was wrong and why." I hope you send a copy of this to the folks over at O. But even if not, it was a great read for us who totally agree with what you've said! Thank you!
Well done, G. Same issues, plus so incredibly more. While so sad and disappointed about this show (note: NOT surprised), I am actually somewhat excited in that this may be something to motivate so many - DOC members, bloggers, lurkers, JDRF, etc - to step up and actually do something more to get our stories and the CORRECT information out there. Think Allison's idea bout a Diabetes Speakers Bureau might be a tool to do that, and I'm currently communicating with my state's JDRF Outreach and Advocacy folk to possible move on this more locally here, at first. We'll see what happens! Go, DMob! (BTW - hope you're feeling better, and this hasn't set you back).
o wow!...right on the $!!! What about all the $ it costs the individual WITH the disease...even with insurance...it is difficult!
that pic is perfect!!
you know, George...i was part of the breast cancer show on Ellen last year!...they said you can bring gifts to her...so i did...i filled a box full of diabetes stuff and a letter explaining how she could help the doc on her show...who knows if she ever got it : (
I think (hope) Ellen would do a Fantastic job. We shall see.
Great (sigh) fail points. I am still shaking my head over this. No specialist just kills me.
Unbelievable. Thanks for being so strong and watching the whole episode. I saw some of the end of it. Then decided, after all the tweets and posts, to not go back, get worked up over it and mess up my "dangerous" 122 mg/dl range. (double sigh). Hell, even my Mom was shocked at this. What?!
Oh and the article Dr. Oz wrote on the Huffington Post? Really? (triple sigh).
He needs to go back to being Just a surgeon.....you celebrity wanna-be who thinks you need more money. Get off your high horse and educate yourself.
I only caught the last 20 minutes of the show (I had to work). But I did catch the part about the teaspoons of sugar. Question: How on earth did they get that a serving of Ranch Dressing has 6 teaspoons of sugar? I pulled out my Light Ranch Dressing (which I know actually has MORE carbs than the regular ranch) and it only had 3 grams of sugar for a 2 tablespoon serving. Where's the math?
Great post! I'd like to take your labelling of "the O's" a step further, and propose that from now on, the DOC should spell 0prah and Dr 0z with zero's not O's - that way we can call them "the zeroes" for ZERO clue!
If you want to complain to Oprah directly you can paste the link below into your browser window. Maybe if she hears from enough of us Type 1 and Type 2s she'll do a follow up show.
http://www.oprah.com/ownshow/plug_form.html?plug_id=220
Thank you for taking the time to write this post. As a non-profit organization focused on diabetes prevention, our members and staff were excited that Oprah would bring the diabetes epidemic into the spotlight.
Directly after the show, I received several calls and emails. Some of which expressed disappointment about the same topics mentioned in your blog. The main topic of concern we heard was about the lack of attention and focus given to prediabetes.
Helping people with prediabetes (57+ million people in the US ) to make the necessary lifestyle changes needed to prevent the onset of type 2 diabetes is IMPORTANT. Habits are hard to break. Getting information is not always enough. People need guidance, someone in their corner who wants them to succeed. Without it, they will have a greater than 80% chance of developing full-blown diabetes.
I understand that it is EXTREMELY important to reach out to those who are living with diabetes, particularly those who may be having a hard time managing the disease. That doesn't mean we can ignore those who are knocking at the (diabetes) door.
We fight everyday to spread the message that type 2 can be prevented. We hoped she'd give our message a louder voice. Maybe next time.
I really would love to see Ellen do a show about diabetes. Unfortunately, that is going to take a lot of work. My mom has been a huge fan of Ellen ever since she came on the air. About a month after being diagnosed and realizing how much I didn't know about diabetes, I knew there needed to be someone famous doing more. So I started to send one letter every Monday to Ellen and request that she dedicate some time in November to National Diabetes Month. She dedicates the whole month of October to Cancer, so I thought it would be reasonable for her to do November with diabetes. 5 years later and I still haven't seen or heard her do anything about it.
Let's hope she does.
Thank you George for your perspective. Drama, drama, etc. is all they were interested in. Anything but the truth. And they almost did not identify the T1. No mention of carbs, just sugar, sugar, and more sugar.
It is a shame that they have to do this for ratings only and not from the truth and facts. No wonder Dr. Oz is on TV - can't make it in medical practice.
Enough Said - Bob
Came across an article you should read - whole different perspective on the O's show. The link is http://www.diabetesstories.com/stories_blog/. Also follow to her article on the Huffington Post.
Bob
FANTASTIC POST!!!!!
Well done, my friend :)
OMGsh...I LOVE THAT PICTURE!!!!!
PS -- I also wanted to mention that since they seem so concerned about bankrupting the US healthcare system, I'm sure that meant they're intending on setting up a multi-million dollar fund - started from their own pocketbooks, of course - to help un/under-insured folks access the supplies they need in order to properly manage their diabetes.
DOUBLE PERIOD!
G-
Excellent post! Dr Oz's diabetes inaccuracies was indeed maddening ! Dude - I was freaking out when I watched it- on my vacay, which was totally ruined! That episode has set back educating the public on diabetes myths verses diabetes realities 20 fold!
Hopefully Ellen will hear your call!
Love ya my friend!
Kelly K
Thankyou, I, like many others, was so offended by this show. I have heard from type 1 friends that the info was inaccurate - and the same comments you said about the lady who was featured too.
As a type 2, it was also offensive for them to use a Type 1 with extreme complications simply as a scare tactic to up the ratings (as with a lot of things on the show.)
The medical info was partly wrong, the rubbish about the cost to healthcare - do we really need the finance of the whole country blamed on us?! Type 1 people were wrongly represented (suddenly they are producing insulin, and if they take more insulin they are 'bad' diabetics? Really, Oprah?!)
And type 2 - we fight every day, as do all types, that all there is to it is that we are fat and lazy and eat to many donuts. It is really not that simple My whole family on my mothers side have type 2 and I wasn't brought up with them - I am adopted and only met them 3 years ago. What a coincidence that we all ate the same amount of donuts, eh?! People watch Oprah and believe her
and that makes a few more people for us to explain 'no, its not just sugar, no, I didn't get it because I'm 'bad' etc to!
I understand the idea of giving people a kick to motivate them. But I think many would be so much more motivated by a show which, yes, gave the warnings and all of that, but also, how about showing someone living positively with diabetes? Showing self care to encourage people it is possible?
I will probably not watch Oprah again.
George- you made me smile! Love it! Maybe Ellen will pickup your show idea! I hope so!
I did not watch the show. Part of me says that it was because I was too busy, but another part of me just really did not want to watch it. I did not want to see them do such a shitty job.
I loved your round up on it, and your points just validate why I am glad I didn't watch it. I call bullshit on the whole damn thing.
Just found your new site and blog. Fantastic. T1 for 43+ years. You said many things so well. One of my faves is : you have diabetes, see a specialist in diabetes. HOw many don't? It's frightening to me. I guess Thank God I'm a t1!
Oprah should be ashamed really. But i'm sure her ego won't let her admit sharing less than accurate info.
To those of us who know differently, spread the word to the world. It's our job...
Deb
If this is the biggest epidemic in our country why are people so uneduacated about it. Oh yea, cause even more uneducated people trying to pretend that they are eduacated aobut the disease tell every one they can the WRONG INFORMATION.
I'm surfing internet for diabetes information till I found your website. Thanks for the information
Anyway i also have a blog about diabetes too. Come visit me sometimes.^_^
http://www.earlysymptomsdiabetesguru.com/
This show indicated the lack of understanding of all types of diabetes even by professionals such as Dr Oz. Yes there should have been an Endochronologist on the show and victims of diabetes to give much more acurate accounts of this disease, it is so misunderstood.
Good posts never die : D I didn't even know Oprah was diabetic ! You know I like Dr. Oz but after seeing his show and hearing about this eposide of Oprah I'm wondering what's the point. Here are two very famous people who have the attention of the American public - I mean they could really have an impact in getting people tested if their having symptoms and they drop the ball. That is really disappointing because diabeties is such a devasting disease if not treated properly and that takes a lot of support from the Health Community and getting the word out to get tested so you can make changes to save yourself from complications. Really enjoyed your post Nijabetic keep up the great work!