Because diabetes has genetic roots, many people at risk have already watched a relative go blind or lose a leg. Not knowing that treatments have improved dramatically over the past decade, these people assume, wrongly, that such complications are inevitable. Then there's the intimidating prospect of a lifetime of vigilance. To properly care for their disease, people with diabetes may have to check their glucose between sets of tennis. Or excuse themselves from a business meeting to eat a snack.
Diabetes never takes a vacation.
The relentlessness of the regimen creates in many a sense of isolation and fatigue. When no else in the restaurant needs to worry about health when the food is slow to arrive, staying motivated to care for the disease gets harder and harder. To make matters worse, people with diabetes get insufficient support from the U.S. health-care system. Diabetes centers around the country are closing because many insurers do not reimburse for preventative treatment.