Women of ‘Magnolias’

Before seeing “Steel Magnolias” recently, we had little idea what it was about, except that it involved a diabetic. As a family in which diabetes and its effects are well known, we found the movie medically unrealistic:

--Kidney transplant patients do not inevitably have to die because a transplanted kidney fails. Thousands have been saved by dialysis or a second transplant.

--An insulin reaction does not usually disappear in a few seconds after the victim sips orange juice; often it takes hours for him or her to return to normal.

--Diabetics can indeed adopt. We know--we have adopted two children.

Many people may leave theaters with false impressions about this medical condition. An otherwise wonderful movie such as this one simply hasn’t done justice to the reality of those who have diabetes.

ERIC and JUDY BROWN

Woodland Hills