“.....intensive glucose control does not add any significant benefit,” he said.”
So as I understand this, I have been denying myself apple pie for nothing.
“So as I understand this, I have been denying myself apple pie for nothing”
Me too!
That is correct.
Intensive glucose control does not add any significant benefit,
There was recently a study which had to be halted because some of diabetics participating in it were dying. It turns out that tight control may not be the best thing for diabetics. See: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080206105440.htm.
Things were basically ok for me until menopause. Since then, I have been battling. I did the low carb thing for almost a year. I thought I was going to go crazy with the restrictions and after 9 months or so, I wasn’t seeing the benefits that I had at first. On top of that, I ended up taking all kinds of other meds for my ‘protection.’
I’ve been doing low fat vegan for almost a year now and am very pleased. No cholesterol meds, no BP meds. My endo took me off of insulin while keeping the metformin. Based on the negative experiences (like death) of some diabetic family and friends this past year, I decided to forgo the metformin w/its liver issues, and stay w/the insulin as needed. At one point a few years ago I was taking 190 units a day. Now I take about 10 units, and don’t have to do that everyday. I also take Byetta, which is a hormone, not insulin, and seems to help me quite a bit. I’m hoping that in another 6 months or so, I will have lost enough weight where I won’t have to take that, either. Oh yeah, no matter what I did previously, I didn’t lose weight. After going vegan, I’m losing weight easily.
This is such an individual disease. I don’t knock Atkins, tho I do think you have to watch your fats. Dr. Bernstein has a similar carb-restricted program that isn’t so fat loaded.
So many of the diabetic treatments seem to do harm - either the meds make you fat or cause liver damage or cause heart attacks. It’s hard for people to make dietary changes, whether it’s vegan or Atkins, but in the end, it seems so much better to care for diabetes w/food choices than meds. Just my 2 cents.
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
No, you have been watching your weight. I also believe that someone with just one kidney should watch their sugar intake.