Posted on 12/17/2008 11:47:25 PM PST by FocusNexus
Thanks again.
.....so it seems that there won’t be all that many more years to even worry about this......
If you are 60, it might be at least 20
“But what about kidney failure?”
See post 3 for more detail and original link:
“Keeping a tight rein on blood glucose in type 2 diabetes patients did nothing to prevent retinopathy, nephropathy, or neuropathy in the closely watched VA Diabetes Trial, researchers here said.
With a median of 5.6 years of follow-up, rates of microvascular complications did not differ significantly between diabetic veterans who received standard care and those randomized to a regimen of tight glycemic control, reported William Duckworth, M.D., of the Phoenix VA Health Care Center and colleagues online in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Median levels of glycated hemoglobin reached in the trial were 8.4% with standard therapy and 6.9% in the intensive treatment group.”
This is not to say that people should ignore the guidelines, but it seems the numbers are not as cut and dried as endocrynologists are trying to make their patients believe.
My family history predicts to the contrary, but that would be nice, yet we just never know.
Just saw this article:
Vitamin B1 Could Reverse Early-stage Kidney Disease In Diabetes Patients
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/12/081208092149.htm
Researchers at the University of Warwick have discovered high doses of thiamine - vitamin B1 - can reverse the onset of early diabetic kidney disease.
Kidney disease, or diabetic nephropathy, develops progressively in patients with type 2 diabetes. Early development of kidney disease is assessed by a high excretion rate of the protein albumin from the body in the urine, known as microalbuminuria.
The research is led by Dr Naila Rabbani and Professor Paul J Thornalley at Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick, in collaboration with researchers at the University of Punjab and Sheik Zaid Hospital, Lahore, Pakistan.
The team has discovered taking high oral doses of thiamine can dramatically decrease the excretion of albumin and reverse early stage kidney disease in type 2 diabetes patients.
In a paper published online in the journal Diabetologia, the team show 300 mg of thiamine taken orally each day for three months reduced the rate of albumin excretion in type 2 diabetes patients. The albumin excretion rate was decreased by 41% from the value at the start of the study. The results also showed 35% of patients with microalbuminuria saw a return to normal urinary albumin excretion after being treated with thiamine.
Yeah, great for most, but at 5'10 150lb I'm just trying not to blow away.
I advised him to worry about what to do when he was 85. He is now 88 but suffers from Alsheimers. What he worried about at that lunch was never a problem.
I've been prescribed Metformin but it requires NO alcohol—and I do enjoy a Bud now and again.
If the info of this article is correct and I watch my carb intake along with B1 supplements and regular exercise,I may be able to forgo the pills.
Of course I'm not rushing into anything—it will require more research—but I hate to completely divorce my buddy Bud.
Wish I had that proble,...I plateau and stay there or gain...
Frustrating as all get out.
Lifestyle changes have dramatic effect though. Did anyone see the recent Biggest Loser finale? They had the sickest man, in his 50s but looked 100, on there, and he had every kind of health problem, was taking every kind of pill. At the finale, he got a Standing O for losing the weight (he was not one of the winners at all) and working out and eating right: the Century City doc came on and was wiping away tears at the amazing turnaround at the man’s medical testing. He’s fit and healthy today, no meds. He’s a cop, too.
“Of course I’m not rushing into anything—it will require more research—but I hate to completely divorce my buddy Bud.”
Read, do your own research, and talk to your doctor, etc., don’t make any decisions or take any significant actions based on one article, or advice from anonymous posters, etc. — HOWEVER, I would like to add some additional things that you might want to research further and possibly experiment with, by checking your blood sugar often.
As far as I read and heard, the main reason they don’t want diabetics to drink alcohol, especially when they are on medication, is because ALCOHOL LOWERS blodd sugar, and they are concerned that when people drink alcohol, they drop their blood sugar too much, which is one of the dangers of taking medications. I read that when you drink alcohol, your liver stops making glucose, until it metabolizes alcohol.
I do not recommend that you drink, but if I were you, before going on medication, I would recommend trying the diet and exercise routine and maybe that occasional beer you like, preferably in the evening, not during the day. I would suggest very close monitoring of your blood sugar of several times a day, including before the drink, an hour afterwards, then again a little later,and so on, so you can find out yourself the impact it has on your blood sugar.
If you do go on medication, do read up on the medication itself and whether it interacts with alcohol or vice versa.
Another thing I recommend reading up on is resveratrol and garlic, as well as herbs.
Here are some websites that you might want to start with — remember, I am not recommending any products, just research, so you can find out and decide for yourself.
Resveratrol:
http://www.diabetesinfocenter.org/View.aspx?url=Diabetes_Resveratrol
http://ajpendo.physiology.org/cgi/content/full/290/6/E1339
Garlic:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/11/081119084835.htm
Herbs — Check out the ingredients individually also:
http://www.flourishwellness.com/store/comersus_viewItem.asp?idProduct=63
The problem is they are treating the numbers and not the underlying problem, which in type 2 diabetics is the excess insulin being released and the burn out of beta cells.
I know this is not cheery news, but perhaps the only way to fight this disease is to go on a very low carb diet. And, for all the researchers know, that may not do it, but it seems to be the best hope.
Doctors and researchers need to stop obsessing about BG and A1C numbers. Everybody is being lulled into a false sense of security because they see their numbers lowered by medications. All they get out of it, though, is lower numbers.
http://www.mendosa.com/lowcarb.htm
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Story?id=3232247&page=1
And if you can find a way to access it without paying to read it, “Oral Hypoglycemics and Diabetic Nephropathy” by Nortin M. Hadler in the Clinical Journal of American Nephrology 2: 159-162, 2008
Ping
ping for later read.
Thank you, thank you very much. ( that was my impersonation of Elvis..LOL)
Presently I keep my carbs down to 3 carb servings per meal (15 carbs per serving) I try to have two mid meal snacks a day keeping then to no more than 1 carb. I was told not to count sugar and instead count the carbs.
Exercise seems to be critical in keeping the BG down. My GSD pup makes sure I get exercise. For now, I can keep my BG down to about 100 at fasting. It does go up during the day but generally no more than in the 120’s. When I was first diagnosed with this junk, my BG was 400. I also take 70 units of insulin each night and metformin once a day.
Having said all of that, here is my attitude. There is no way of getting out of this life without dying. I love most things in my life and at 60, I don’t at all feel cheated. I figure that as long as God wants me here, I get to continue with this wonderful gift of life. When I was about to go into heart surgery I told my Bride, of over 36 years, that I just wanted my fishing gear ready and my soul ready, that way I figure I had everything covered regardless of how things came out. Well, I later went fishing ; >)
Anyway, thank you very much.... and Merry Christmas.
No, you have been watching your weight. I also believe that someone with just one kidney should watch their sugar intake.
You have a great attitude. :-)
What is a GSD? We have a GSP (German Shorthaired Pointer). He’s crazy, but we love him dearly.
Me too!
Gator113, have you been denying askrenr apple pie?
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