5 Myths about Diabetes

Myth #1

Once you're diagnosed with diabetes, complications such as blindness, loss of limbs and kidney failure are inevitable.

Feinglos says that with proper medication and medical care, regular blood sugar checks and good habits such as staying active and eating right, there's a good chance you'll avoid other health complications. "It's a little bit of work, but you can do extraordinarily well," he says.

But left untreated, or undertreated, more serious health problems can arise. Diabetes causes more deaths a year than breast cancer and AIDS combined, according to the American Diabetes Association. Two out of three people with diabetes die from heart disease or stroke, complications of the condition.

Myth #2

Diabetes is nothing to worry about. I just have a "touch of sugar."

"A touch of diabetes is like a touch of pregnancy," Feinglos says. He says many people, when first diagnosed, will modify their diet but will go along for some time before taking medications to control blood sugar.

"Diet and exercise is the cornerstone, but a lot of people need medication from the start. There's a lot of sentiment about starting meds earlier," says Feinglos, who adds that going on medication right away can help protect insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas.

Myth #3

People with diabetes should never eat sugary things.

"That one's been floating around for years," says Richard Beaser, medical executive director of professional education at Joslin Diabetes Center, who says it's more about portion control and reaching a healthy weight for people with type 2 diabetes.

"We know now that table sugar doesn't raise blood sugar any more than other starches, like a baked potato, rice or bread," says Elizabeth Kern, director of the diabetes program at National Jewish Health in Denver.

How much a person eats "depends on the individual, their overall weight, and their type of diabetes," says Kern, who recommends everyone newly diagnosed see a nutritionist with expertise in diabetes who can help create an eating plan.

Myth #4

I can't go on that trip because I have diabetes.

"I have had patients say, 'I can't go on this Outward Bound trip,' but you can do that stuff," says pediatric endocrinologist Martha Bardsley of Thomas Jefferson University and Nemours Children's Clinic in Philadelphia. "It's just a matter of staying on top of your medications, testing blood sugar often and keeping it well-controlled. I have a patient who's an Eagle Scout, and he goes on long camping trips off into the wilderness. He just takes extra supplies."

Myth #5

You have to limit your career choices if you have diabetes.

Absolutely not, Bardsley says. With the exception of military colleges, which won't accept students with diabetes, Bardsley says, you can achieve any career goal.

"A lot of my patients think if they have diabetes that they could never be a pilot. There are pilots with diabetes. You just have to meet certain criteria — provide frequent doctor's notes and show your blood sugars are under control," she says.