Posted on 11/25/2008 2:33:47 PM PST by fightinJAG
According to researchers in the U.S. the loss of potassium experienced from taking blood pressure drugs may explain higher risk of adult diabetes. The researchers from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine say they have discovered that a drop in blood potassium levels caused by diuretics commonly prescribed for high blood pressure, could be the reason why people on those drugs are at risk for developing type 2 diabetes.
It seems that while the drugs help to accelerate the loss of fluids they also deplete important chemicals, including potassium and those prescribed them are generally advised to eat bananas and other potassium-rich foods to counteract this effect.
Lead researcher Dr. Tariq Shafi from the Department of Nephrology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine says previous research has shown that when patients take diuretic thiazides, potassium levels drop and the risk of diabetes climbs to 50% and now they have concrete information for the first time connecting the factors.
Dr. Shafi says thiazides, such as chlorthalidone, are an inexpensive and highly effective way to treat high blood pressure and have been used widely for decades, but their association with diabetes has forced many hypertension suffers to use other medications that can be several times as expensive.
According to Dr. Shafi the study shows that as long as physicians monitor and regulate potassium levels, thiazides can be used safely, saving patients thousands of dollars a year and could be as simple as increasing the consumption of potassium-rich foods such as bananas and oranges and/or reducing salt intake, both of which will keep potassium from dropping.
(Excerpt) Read more at news-medical.net ...
ping!
You know, this reminds of a friend that just moved to Abu Dhabi. Her son was ADD. A severe case by her words.
She took him to the doctor over there. He didn’t even mention ADD. Diagnosed him with a magnesium deficit and prescribed double magnesium pills everyday. He is doing great.
Most doctors only sell drugs for a living. Looking for chemical/mineral imbalances take too much time.
...hopefully within six years.
That's my schedule.
But I am studying this stuff,
so I know it...you know, like...
...chinch bugs. You know...
...manganese. A lot of people
don't even know what that is.
Oh not manganese, magnesium, way different.
Part of me thinks.....Nationalized healthcare will mean a HEALTHIER America.....Just sayin’
Lets-see, type 2 diabetes is a broken hormonal response to carbohydrates (usually caused by a high carbohydrate diet). People taking diuretics eat lots of bananas and oranges (very high in carbohydrates as well as potassium) ergo the diabetes they develop is caused by potassium depletion????
Btw- just keep a box of Epsom Salts on the sill of the tub and get into the habit of rubbing a handful all over towards the end of a shower, you love the feeling and balance you minerals at the same time.
First entered our vocabulary from the tiny Hamlet of Epsom, England (ironically near Bath, England, that's how that word got there, too).
Epsom is really Magnesium sulfate
T2 diabetes is multi-factorial. A med school prof turned an entire class of students into temporary T2 diabetics by making them each drink a quart of salad oil (circa 1920). NOD rats (non obese diabetic) can be prevented from becoming diabetic by dosing with vitamin D3.
Dissolve epsom salts in water and drink the solution.
You won’t be constipated for quite a spell thereafter.
can you elaborate on the epsom salts I’ve never heard anything like that.
Thanks
Hmmm! ping
interesting. a friend has a child with only moderate adhd. may suggest an increase in magnesium. can’t hurt, right?
as for the high blood pressure, i am on meds for it. doc asks for regular bloodwork...so this ought to be monitored.
People taking diuretics should not assume that they need the extra potassium. My bp medicine specifically states to NOT use lite-salt (potassium based) because mine RETAINS potassium, but ditches the sodium....you mileage may vary, but everyone should read their own medication’s packaging and behave accordingly.
Every farmer keeps Epsom salts around....just as handy as duct tape!
I was taking a drug called Toprol XL for HT. Never had a diabetic brush in my life. After a year on Toprol, doc tells me I’m Type II.
I start researching Toprol and find out it is very well correlated with new cases of diabetes. One study was of over 10,000 people. Yet docs pooh-poohed the connection.
I switched meds and am now waiting to see what’s going on with the other issue.
Depends on which drug you’re talking about. Some blood pressure drugs actually increase potassium levels.
I don’t think most people get diabetes by drinking quarts of salad oil. Feeding people fat does seem an odd way to produce an abnormal insulin response. I wonder what the mechanism for that would be? Anyway I wonder if researchers controlled for high carbohydrate diets when looking at the correlation between potassium levels and diabetes.
bookmark for reference
I’ve gone type 2 approx 2 yrs after going on thiazide diuretic
interesting.....
I hated Toprol.
I wouldn’t be so quick to chalk diabetes up to your genes. The link with Toprol was quite astounding, in my estimation. The literture clearly said, basically, not to prescribe Toprol to those who are diabetic and at risk for diabetes-—IIRC.
I switched to Coreg and feel much better. We’ll see what happens on the other front.
Personally, I’m glad you’re off Toprol if it was making you feel that bad, plus your diabetes.
I’m sorry to hear about your diabetes. Maybe it’s appropriate to bring this up to your doc. I did and he switched me to Coreg, which, according to him, might actually stem off Type II as well as control HT.
That’s what I said and was told you could get too much. I always thought you eliminated extra vitamins. Just saying to look it up before you give it to a child. Or have the doctor check it and monitor it. Better safe than sorry with the little ones.
Both Magnesium and Potassium are elements many Americans (perhaps more than half) have chronic deficiencies of.
The basic problem is that both are needed on an intracellular level, but the body doesn’t like them to be outside the cells. As many here are aware, a good dose of magnesium will clean you out Tooti-Frutti!
I use magnesium supplements, but also tend to never use regular table salt. I use either sea salt or No Salt.
Wish I could find a good source of food grade potassium bicarbonate or potassium acetate.
Interesting...me too. HCL for hypertension, now I am teetering on T2. Taking more meds than a junkie! Not a happy path...
Thanks for posting this.
My kidneys don’t hold potassium in, so I have to take supplements. Recently, my doctor put me on blood pressure medication to see if this keeps it in. I’ll definitely bring this up at my next visit.
Prescription drugs kill. They’re unnatural and invasive.
It will be the end of any hope for health.
ping
And this just proves that idiocy isn’t limited to the liberals.
If I didn’t take the prescription drug I did, I can tell you I’d be dead.
If there are any doctors here, this’ll stick out to you, I had a potassium level of 2.4 when they found this problem.
Magnesium defficiency stems from an adrenal defficiency, which is mostly caused by lack of sleep. The lack of sleep tends to be a digestion problem; lack of stomach acid, often from a lack of salt, and also a lack of liver/gallblader function.
Prescription drugs are keeping alive. I think I’ll stick with them.
I'm perfectly healty, I have not seen a doctor in 30 years. I'm afraid if I see one, he will tell me different. Ergo,,, I don't visit doctors. I'm getting old and dieing is a sure thing.
FReepmail me if you want on or off the diabetes ping list.
Let’s see. Do I prefer kidney failure or a heart attack? [/s]
Interesting you should mention that. The nurse told me about that when I went in yesterday with a broken rib.
I seriously doubt that there is any palpable evidence that drugs are keeping you or anyone else alive. Treat the cause, not the symptoms; that is the only to stay alive in the long run. 99% of prescription drugs treat only symptoms, leaving the cause to worsen.
It’s in the water.
Or rather, it’s not.
I suspect that things were better when people were getting their water from streams and wells which is noticeably harder than most municipal water supplies.
Higher contents of calcium, magnesium, and silicates.
Dittos!
If it isn't an injury, going to a doctor is slow suicide.
Even if it is in the water in high levels, it won’t stay in the blood without optimum adrenal function.
Lately “they” have begun replacing such blood pressure drugs with Viagara.
I don’t care how strong your adrenal is.
If it’s not in your diet in sufficient quantities, no adrenal gland can make up for it.
I would be willing to bet dollars to donuts that most cases of deficiency are due to diet rather than adrenal malfunction.
My beloved husband was taking Toprol XL because of an irregular heartbeat, even though he had low blood pressure. When I asked his cardiologist about this he said that it was important for the irregular heartbeat. I had no idea it was also bad for diabetics, which he was. Sadly, he did not survive a very ill-advised repeat open heart valve surgery, due mostly to his hypotension. There was a lot of very bad medical judgement and advice going on for him in his last few months of life.
Every drug has side effects, which another drug is prescribed for and on and on. I am fortunate to be taking no prescription meds, though sometimes I am tempted to deal with my grief.
No, the adrenal problem is almost the entirety of magnesium defficiency.
Citations?
“I use magnesium supplements, but also tend to never use regular table salt. I use either sea salt or No Salt.”
In that case, where do you get your iodine? Regular table salt is iodised. Here in Australia we seems to have a real problem with iodine deficiency and I think it applies overseas too.
Paint it on your belly.
About once a week I paint a small patch of tincture of iodine on my tummy.
I doubt I have an iodine problem as I regularly eat alot of sardines and various seafoods.
ping
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