18/04/2026
"Uncontrolled" It's a clinical term, and I understand that. It refers to an HbA1c that isn't stable. The problem with that word, however, is that it follows people out of the doctor's office and into the real world, where it sounds like failure, blame and like someone has done this to themselves.
In the media landscape that already pushes the idea that diabetes is a result of bad choices, the word uncontrolled does a lot more damage than we admit. It quietly confirms the bias and permits the use of this narrative for branding, marketing and sales.
At the recent diabetes camp I attended, I saw what "uncontrolled" actually looks like. This is the real picture, not the one the media peddles:
Children are not injecting because there is no food.
Children are eating without insulin because there isn't any.
Clinics without test strips.
Families making impossible decisions every single day.
That's what we're calling "uncontrolled". But what exactly are we expecting people to control? Because where I'm standing, this isn't a behaviour problem. It's a system failure. And the language we use is helping to hide that. It's feeding the culture of blame. Picture this: a child goes into a doctor's room, the doctor uses the word "uncontrolled", the parent hears this word as a signal to enforce greater discipline. Now the child is living with T1D, shame, blame and the overwhelming task of achieving the perception of "control".
This concept of blame culture is not new to us. We have seen how powerful the shift in perception can be. The HIV movement didn't just change treatment; it changed language. It forced a shift away from blame and towards dignity, context and reality.
Diabetes has not had its moment yet. I am always looking to work and collaborate on projects that shift the perception because, now more than ever, Diabetes needs its moment. Interrogating the reason brands, media and civil society have permission to blame and shame us has led me to this word, "uncontrolled". Until we stop labelling people as "uncontrolled", we're going to keep misunderstanding the problem, and keep failing the people living it.
Can we find another word? Interested to hear your thoughts.
