January 18, 2010

Hi Ladies!  After reading a response from an embittered man regarding the Weekend for Women Conference (saying that a conference for women is “monumentally discriminatory”), I was excited to see an article published in the Journal of Neuroscience this week that further speaks to the reason why a Conference for women with diabetes is important!  I’ll get to the article momentarily.  But first, I must take this opportunity to clarify the purpose of this Conference.  You probably know that there is a conference for Children with Diabetes (www.childrenwithdiabetes.com), camps for tweens and teens with diabetes, and a conference for adults with diabetes (www.tcoyd.org).  Similarly, it is important to recognize the differences and the needs of other sub-groups within the large population of people with diabetes.  Because women tend to be more social and more emotional in their dealings with diabetes, we can benefit from receiving diabetes education in a more social way that allows us to share our experiences with peers.  Similarly, teenagers with diabetes have their own issues, ways of communicating, and research related to their health issues.  Even men would benefit from education that revolves around the way men like to communicate (maybe making sports comparisons or creating competitions) to receive the highest level of education and motivation based on research that has been done specifically on the male gender.  In no way, do I want DiabetesSisters to be discriminatory.  But it is very sad that, in 2010, I am still explaining the differences in the male body and female body and the male mind and the female mind.  We are not “little men!”  After all, men have no idea what it is like to experience fluctuating blood sugars related to menstruation, pregnancy, and menopause.  The man’s comment went on to say that the “world would be in an uproar if there was a conference for men with diabetes.”  I don’t know what planet he is living on, but if my husband had a disease and wanted to go to a conference to talk to other men who are living successfully with the disease and learn more about how to manage his condition, I would welcome the opportunity.  Unfortunately, over the last two years, I have been asked by many men, “Why isn’t there a DiabetesBrothers?” as if it was my responsibility to create the organization.   My response is always the same, “Well, I guess they are just waiting on a man with diabetes, like you, start it!”  That usually results in silence.

The article I referred to earlier (from the Journal of Neuroscience) is here: Sex Differences in Stress Response Circuitry Activation Dependent on Female Hormonal Cycle

Basically, the study explains that the brains of men and women handle stress differently and that alters the way each gender experiences chronic diseases such as depression, cardiovascular disease and autoimmune diseases (such as Type 1 diabetes!).  The study uncovered that women have been endowed with a natural hormone capacity to regulate the stress response in the brain that differs from men.  Furthermore, diseases affected by stress often present differently in women and men. The most profound information comes from one of the study’s authors.  She said, “"Understanding sex differences in stress regulation in the brain can provide clues to understanding the nature of these chronic medical disorders. Mapping out sex-specific physiology in the brain will also provide the basis for the development of sex-specific treatments for these diseases.

If you would like to read more articles about the issues specific to women with diabetes, here are some great ones:

Women's Monthly Cycle Affects Blood Glucose Control, But Not Consistently

Women, Sex, and Diabetes