Ask the Doctor About Diabetes

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Ask the Doctor About Diabetes

http://www.fourfoldhealing.com/Q & A__Diabetes.htm

 

 

 

Question:  I am a 67-year-old retired white male with a history of diabetes

for about 4 years. I have high blood pressure (in the 160/95 range),

diminishing eyesight and tests are now showing of protein in urine. I'm probably

35-40

pounds overweight, and have been experiencing increasing fatigue and lethargy.

Can you talk about my situation?

 

 

 

Answer:  Yours seems to be the classic presentation of type II, or

non-insulin-dependent diabetes. The typical story is onset in the 50s to 60s in

a person

who is significantly overweight. Diabetes often goes along with high blood

pressure, both as a direct consequence of being overweight and as a result of

the fact that excess insulin (the hallmark of type II diabetes) itself causes

high blood pressure because it stimulates the retention of fluid in the body.

The protein in the urine is a sign that the diabetes is affecting your kidneys

and that they are starting to “leak†protein. This is usually a harbinger of

advanced diabetes and if not corrected will eventually lead to compromised

kidney function and the misery of regular dialysis treatment. The eyesight

problem

is also a direct consequence of the diabetes because diabetes leads to a

deterioration of the small blood vessels everywhere in the body. This includes

the

retina, where one begins to see exudates or leaking of blood from the blood

vessels of the eye into the retina. Eventually, this process will lead to

further impairment of the vision, if it is not reversed. I have also found that

many of my patients with this kind of advancing diabetes also complain of not

feeling well in a non-specific sort of way. Often the complaint is fatigue,

lethargy, or just a decreased joy in life.

 

 

 

Let me share a case history that is similar to yours. As is usual in these

cases, my patient was on a number of drugs to address his health concerns. He

was on an oral hypoglycemic agent to lower his blood sugar, a beta-blocker to

lower his blood pressure (which incidentally raises the blood sugar), and an ACE

inhibitor to lower the blood pressure and protect the kidneys. He believed

that these drugs were contributing to his feeling unwell.

 

 

 

On his initial visit to me, in spite of these drugs, his blood pressure was

165/95, and his HgbA1c (a measure of the average blood sugar over the past six

weeks) was 8.1 (normal is 5.5-6.5). He had been instructed in the American

Diabetes Association diet which is calorie-restricted and fat-restricted—and

also

universally reviled by the patients. Clearly, in spite of the best that

Western medicine had to offer, he was not doing well.

 

 

 

I suggested a strict 60-70 gram per day carbohydrate intake while

implementing a nourishing traditional diet to guide his food choices and food

preparation. He was to eat plentifully of all the good fats and non-starchy

vegetables

without overeating protein (e.g., eat egg yolks in preference to egg whites,

fatty fish instead of lean fish, cream instead of milk, etc.). He was not to

limit his total food intake, but rather to strictly limit his carbohydrate

consumption to the amount listed above. The patient also began taking a number

of

medicines which are my staples for treating patients with his constellation of

troubles stemming from diabetes, including diaplex, gymnema, bilberry, and birch

leaf tea, along with cod liver oil to supply 20,000 IU vitamin A daily.

 

 

 

In six months of strictly following this program the results were nothing

short of remarkable (though actually predictable). He had lost 35 pounds without

increasing his exercise, he felt much more energetic, he loved his food again,

and he was off all conventional medicines. When I saw him at 6 months his

blood pressure was 135/80, and there was no protein in his urine. The HgbA1c was

6.7 (almost normal) and he could sense his eyesight improving. Confirmation

came when he had his check-up with his eye doctor, who produced an after picture

showing that his retinal hemorrhages had healed considerably over the

previous six months. The doctor commented that he had never seen such a thing.

 

 

 

This story shows that there is hope with diabetes and that with sound

thinking and sound intervention much of the ravages of this illness can be

prevented

and treated.