Diabetes - Poor lifestyle or something else?
Posted by Carol_Noble at 01:24, 22 Aug 2009We are often told that diabetes is due to poor lifestyles, junk food and lack of exercise.
As a person who has diabetes, and is now insulin dependent, as well as having other health problems, I always felt this was too simplistic.
Recently I asked to be referred to sort out a problem that I have had for around 50 years - poor joints and muscles. I was referred to an enhanced physiotherapist who after asking me many questions is to refer me to a Rheumatologist.
One thing she said struck me as odd: she asked if I had ever been diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis. Whilst I have been told that one joint (my right wrist) does have arthritis I always believed it was due to osteo-arthritis. I have had problems all my life practically with regards to this wrist and other joints in my body.
I decided to check out Rhumatoid Arthritis (RA) on the internet and was surprised to find it is an auto-immune disease. As I looked further into this I discovered that diabetes, and underactive thyroid, are also auto-immune diseases. As no medical professional up to now has ever said this to me I was very surprised, considering I have both of these diseases.
The more I discover about this the more I am both annoyed and disappointed. In the US it seems that people are told, but in the UK, we are given the propaganda mantra that ordinary people are to blame for getting these diseases at all.
Yes, diet and lack of exercise can be factors, but essentially it is the immune system that is the problem.
Treatment here is looking solely at the external symptoms, not the internal ones.
I have tried several times to have the thyroid and pancreatic problems treated as one problem, not two separate ones without success.
It would have helped if I had been told the truth. Since learning about this I am looking at the whole issue in a different light.
There are said to be up to 60 auto-immune diseases, and it is possible that once you get one you will get others.
Please do your own research into this. I think you will be surprised at the information available, once you know what to look for.
The determination to give babies more and more vaccinations does not help the situation. Nor does the insistance on giving out Tamiflu over the phone, or a new swine flu vaccine that has not been tested properly. We are all being used as guinea pigs.
I will certainly be asking deeper questions when I see the doctor for my diabetic review next week.
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Comments
12 April 2007
27 min 47 sec
A huge factor in diabetes is what one could call 'peasant genes'.
Yeah, I know it sounds awful, but bear with me folks...
Diabetes is the #1 cause of death in Mexico (among adult males) because most of these folks come from poor families, and when they suddenly find themselves with more quantities of junk food available (stuff that's filled with sugar and fat and all the things that were VERY scarce a couple of decades ago) their genes go haywire, because they were adapted to treat these nutrients as very valuable commodities. So what do you do with your grandma's emerald necklace? Well, you store it in the vault, of course!!
In the XIXth century the poor were lean and the rich fat. In the XXIst century things have gone 180°.
My uncle Fernando died of diabetes. It was not pleasant to witness, particularly the fact that the man was in constant denial of his condition. My father is going through the same routine right now.
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It's not the depth of the rabbit hole that bugs me...
It's all the rabbit SH*T you stumble over on your way down!!!
Red Pill Junkie
3 June 2008
8 weeks 6 days
Sorry to hear about your family and the diabetes curse.
Junk food is part of the problem, and better nutrition is required. That is why I so worried about the A Codex which I mentioned once before.
But it is also poor diagnosis of immune conditions and food intolerances that contributes to the continued problems with diabetes.
It is only now I am beginning to really appreciate the need for good food as far as my body is concerned.
I had my quarterly review and saw the GP and a Dietician. The GP has agreed to my being tested for ceoliac disease (gluten intolerance) as he has "recently" realised there are some diabetics who have this as well. The dietician thinks I may also have a lactose intolerance (I can't take cheese of any kind and some types of milk are a problem). I may in the future have a breath test for this. Meanwhile I am advised to cut back on the dairy and take calcium tablets.
Yet not one of them has suggested that I may have an immune problem. They are just tinkering with the effects, not the cause!
I wish your father all the bes RPJ, and please take care yourself.
Carol A Noble
12 April 2007
27 min 47 sec
Re. reducing dairy consumption while maintaining good calcium levels: Mexican tortillas are an excellent source of calcium, you know ;-)
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It's not the depth of the rabbit hole that bugs me...
It's all the rabbit SH*T you stumble over on your way down!!!
Red Pill Junkie
23 June 2009
1 year 46 weeks
I really wish that Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes did not share a name. They are completely unrelated in every way except their symptoms (in which they are only somewhat related). Yes, correct or not, many people think that Type 2 diabetes is caused by lifestyle. Although it is obviously not so simple, it is clear that lifestyle is a major factor with Type 2. Based on my own observations, I do think that genetics is involved, and I have seen some relatively healthy people get Type 2 as they go into older age.
However, Type 1, or "Juvenile" diabetes is 100% autoimmune and is absolutely not preventable in any way. It is a horrible disease that affects children from a young age and completely dominates every day of the rest of their lives (especially here in the U.S. where we are too cruel and stupid to have a national health care system). It really is very unfortunate that the two diseases share the same name, because it causes a lot of confusion in the mind of the public.
Anyway, I hope that you are able to "win" your battle with Type 2. I have had friends that were diagnosed with Type 2 and have been able to walk it back to the point that the disease is practically a non-issue. I hope that you can do so as well! :)
10 August 2004
8 hours 4 min
My 5-yr old grandson is a Type 1 diabetic (where that came from nobody knows) and it's a tough problem for a youngster to face and deal with, not to mention the worry and extra work it causes my daughter.
Hope you get yours under control soon.
Regards, Kathrinn
3 June 2008
8 weeks 6 days
Thanks Kathrinn.
Your kind thoughts are appreciated.
I also hope your grandson manages to cope with the disease far better than I have done. Pass on my good wishes to your family.
Carol A Noble
3 June 2008
8 weeks 6 days
I have had a review or what passes for a review of diabetes at the GP surgery.
I did not go in depth with my GP regarding auto-immune disease: I thought I would see exactly what this particular surgery does.
There are certainly variations in how these diseases are dealt with, even within regions. It is clear there is no absolute consistency in treatment within a small area.
Even so, I have mentioned my food intolerances and am awaiting results on a blood test for ceoliac disease.
I spoke with a dietician, who for once took my need for a different sort of diet to the usual diabetic one seriously. We talked for quite a while and she accepts that I may be lactose intolerant, but is going to await the outcome of the blood test before going any further with the breath test for lactose intolerance.
I am also going to change my insulin type. At present I take two injections a day, but it is being suggested that I take 1 long acting one which lasts 24 hours plus 3 short acting ones just before meals. I will be seeing about this next week.
My husband and I have been working together on adjusting my diet. I have begun to test specific items, and know that baked beans from a tin, porridge made with milk instead of water, and pastry cause problems sending my blood sugar sky high.
I am testing my blood a lot more frequently, and after checking with the doctor learned that if I test approximately two hours after a meal it should reach its highest level, but hopefully not into double figures.
I have been very strict with myself this past week, and my blood sugar levels have been improved. In fact I went into the next town to do some shopping and found that I felt weak, had a headache brewing, and after testing discovered my blood sugar level was 3.8! Perhaps I am starting to find a way of controlling it after all. I reduced my insulin dose a little last night and it was 5.0 this morning which is normal for someone like me.
I accept that type 1 and type 2 are different diseases. However, if a person has one auto-immune disease they could get another, or even several for the immune system has already been damagtd. Having had a large ovarian cyst removed when I was a teenager it is clear I have had PCOS - Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. As this is now said to be an auto-immune disease I think it is possible that the diabetes which has arrived later in my life may have been around for a lot longer than the time diagnosed. And because auto-immune diseases can be accumulated should actually be treated as a type 1 instead of the type 2, hence the insulin. I accept that for a young child to get this disease is horrendous. As an adult I have been having trouble appreciating the difficulties that are generated by this disease.
If one nurse hadn't decided to do a glucose test I may not have been diagnosed for even longer, especially as the GP I saw afterwards didn't understand why it was being tested at all! He considered the blood sugar level of 6.5 to be quite normal! The glucose test proved otherwise.
I am seeing the rheumatologist in late October, so I will begin a series of investigations then to see if I have RA. Until then I will continue to try and improve my blood sugar levels.
Wish me luck, and thanks for the support.
I also wish anyone that TDG members know with diabetes of either type all the best, and please pass on my hopes that those with diabetes manage to control it far better than I have done up to now.
Carol A Noble
10 August 2004
8 hours 4 min
Dear Carol. So pleased that you have found someone who will 'listen' to you - too often our own thoughts are simply brushed off as uninformed nonsense when, in fact, we are more aware of how various things affect our systems than show up in simple things like blood tests.
Thank you for your kind wishes for my little grandson - I will certainly pass your message on.
He struck an unexpected problem recently, and one that many people may not be aware of. Falling ill with a type of flu my daughter took him to his doctor who prescribed anti-biotics to prevent a secondary infection developing. His blood sugar levels went through the roof and he was one sick little boy. My daughter had obtained the ABs from a pharmacy near the doctor's surgery, not from her usual pharmacy (where the pharmacist is actually a Type 1 diabetic himself). When she went to consult him he gave her the information that that particular AB prescribed for young Jack CONTAINED SUGAR, which apparently many ABs do, and was not one he should be taking. After a change in medication to one recommended by her pharmacist his sugar levels returned to normal.
These things should be KNOWN by the medical profession as inadvertent misuse could have very serious consequences.
I just thought I'd mention this as it may not be something you know either.
My sincere wishes for your continued health improvement.
Love, Kathrinn
3 June 2008
8 weeks 6 days
Kathrinn
I was not aware about antibiotics interfering with sugar levels, but I am not actually surprised, as I know that many medications can affect my blood sugar from past cold bugs.
Anyway, in the UK, few GPs are prepared to give out antibiotics if they can get away with it because they have been told by higher authorities not issue them.
I have spotted that my blood sugar rises a lot when I feel ill.
I hope your grandson is better now. I will also keep my eye on the situation in future for myself. Thanks for the warning.
Love Carol
For something to survive and thrive something else must die.
Carol A Noble
12 April 2007
27 min 47 sec
How curious that in the UK doctors are reluctant to prescribe pills, whereas in the US they're always happy to push them, even when they're not really necessary.
It's not the depth of the rabbit hole that bugs me...
It's all the rabbit SH*T you stumble over on your way down!!!
Red Pill Junkie
22 November 2004
2 weeks 15 hours
these things cost money, and the UK government pays for it. As a higher authority, it doesn't want to.
Whereas in the US, the customer (patient) pays for it, or the customer's insurance.
The nice thing about antibiotics is that often you don't have to know where an infection is in the body. Just nuke it with the right antibiotics for the kind of bacteria, and you're done. Less work.
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We are the cat.
6 September 2009
1 year 31 weeks
There are VERY good indicators that McGill University may have accidentally discovered a successful treatment for one type of diabetes while working on pancreatic issues.
Here is the link so you can draw your own conclusions...
http://www.mcgill.ca/reporter/34/16/rose...