[Finnegan]

As a diabetes type 2newb, I'm still in a state of denial. I do plan on changing my eating habits, losing weight and taking my meds (if and when I get any), but in the short time i've been searching the internet, there seems to be some news that a cure/vaccine to keep it in remission could be on the horizon. Is this a possibility in the near future or just a pipe dream. What's your view?

 

[diabetes709]

Don't hold your breath for a cure. There is a lot of talk about it, and once you find you have diabetes, its like what happens when you buy a new car. Everywhere you look, you see your car. Even TV commercials seem to all be about diabetes now, even tho I scarcely noticed them before I was diagnosed.

What advantage there is today, is meters, and a lot of information to help you control it. Pre-internet, there was good cause to freak out because there was no way to share information, and support each other, so everyone goose-stepped to the ADA, with no way to get real life information.

Get the meter, and test, test, test, and then eat to your meter, no matter what anyone tells you otherwise. There is no "diabetic diet" Its very personsal. Its low carb, of course, but what sends my numbers screaming, may have very little effect on yours. Therefore, be careful with what you eat, don't be fooled by products labeled "low carb," don't buy into the notion that you can have X amount of carbs per day. You have to find out how many carbs you can have, and your meter will help you get there.

I might add that there is panic, and fear, and anger, and all sorts of emotions, but try to remember one thing. You are not going to die from this tomorrow, or next week, or even next month. You have time to sort it out, experiment, start a food journal, and come up with a plan for what you can and cannot eat, basically for the rest of your life. Moderation, and common sense are better tools than what most doctors offer as advice. Plus, remember that stress raises glucose levels, so live life, relax, and just make the changes as soon as you can, without freaking yourself out.

Also, you didn't become a diabetic from over eating. That is an out and out lie that the medical profession continues to propagate. You see, they will run around screaming that 70% of America is overweight, but don't see the ignorance in that statement, as it relates to crying "over weight people get diabetes" Since 70% of Americans don't have diabetes, well duh! Its a factor, you bet, but thin people get diabetes, average weight people do as well.

Your journey begins Read, apply logic, relax, and give yourself some credit for having chosen to do the right thing and work through this. Forget the "research" about heart disease, kidney failure, and whatever. You cannot change any of that. What you can do is lose the weight, eat low carb as possible, exercise, and test, test, test until you learn what is good for your numbers, and what sets them off.

Remember that 'carb' is a buzzword for starch, which might help you see that most white things are bad, and even any kind of grain is probably a bad thing. Start with as few carbs as you possibly can, to get the numbers to start to dive and make you feel better about things. Then add a little at a time, one food at a time, and watch the meter. CalorieKing - Diet and weight loss. Calorie Counter and more is a good resource for nutritional information on just about everything.

That's enough. Go for the tests, listen to your counselor, and let us know what they tell you. With respect, almost everyone I have ever read who reports on what their counselor tells them to eat, has been completely wrong. Even the ADA is up in the night about how much you can eat, and how to control your disease

Take ownership of your disease, and be responsible for what you do with it. Even if your dietician or whomever is a diabetic, chances are, what's good for him/her, may well not fit for you.

Hang tuff.

John

 

[Finnegan]

I think the advice about "taking ownership" of the disease is key. Canada's medical system is overburdened and it seems that unless you push your doctor a bit, you won't get the treatment you need. Just from being on this forum I've learned so much that I need to ask my family doctor. I'll also be pushing to be referred to an endocrinologist and to have more tests done. I'm hoping I don' have full on Type 2, but if I do, I want to know for sure and start going about making some changes and getting a treatment program in place. By the way, the stat about 4 in 5 people with diabetes dying of heart disease has me concrened. Do most diabetics take aspirin therapy to reduce blocked arteries etc,?

 

[diabetes709]

, but if I do, I want to know for sure and start going about making some changes and getting a treatment program in place. By the way, the stat about 4 in 5 people with diabetes dying of heart disease has me concrened. Do most diabetics take aspirin therapy to reduce blocked arteries etc,?

Once you know for sure, you will be better able to dedicate yourself to controlling it.

I don't know about the aspirin. I have taken it for years due to high blood pressure, but read up on that, because thinning the blood helps the arteries, and hurts in other places. Like I mentioned, medicine seems to help one thing, and hurt four others. Best to research, and decide for yourself. Doctors don't have all the answers. In fact, with diabetes, I would wager that those who have it and are controlling it, know more about how to do that, than any doctor who is not also diabetic. There is no way a doctor can keep up with all that he is supposed to know. Now we have lots of data and resources to go along with what the doctor says. He knows more about the why, but his knowledge of how is going to be limited, and likely outdated.

I mentioned the stats on death and health problems in another post. Its based on outdated data, and by the way, in the US, the leading cause of death for older people, is heart disease, with or without diabetes as a factor. Hearts tend to fail over time. Probably because they get broken so very often :-(

John

 

[Finnegan]

If there is a positive side of the diabetes epidemic, it will be that will be more pressure to find a cure. In Canada, diabetes care will cost the government billions of dollars, so funding a cure is in their best interest. Companies should be poor more into research - developing a cure could be very profitable. More people with the disease, means a stronger lobby base - let's face it it's the squeaky wheel that gets the funding.

 

[Finnegan]

I put my =money where my big mouth is and made a donation to the Canadain Diabetes Foundation. Hopefully my measly donation is the the one that helps find the cure. If they do find a cure won't these Foundations go out of business?

 

[diabetes709]

I put my =money where my big mouth is and made a donation to the Canadain Diabetes Foundation. Hopefully my measly donation is the the one that helps find the cure. If they do find a cure won't these Foundations go out of business?

You are chatting with the fifth most cynical person on earth, and I don't believe that the pharmaceutical companies are overly motivated to find a cure. At a dollar per test strip, plus the insulin, other meds, and equipment, they are making a lot of money. The cost to the healthcare industry is way up there, but those are called profits, which to the people making them, is a good thing. Diabetes has not risen to the forefront of the world's conscience like cancer and aids, and therefore, doesn't get the attention it deserves.

I don't believe there will ever be a cure, partly because its just not possible, and partly because I don't think the people who can find it, are motivated to look for it. I tend to view it like I do the gas company that says they will come out and check my furnace, and do a once-over on my home to help me make it more energy efficient. Why would they do that, since the results would be me buying less gas to heat my house, and cutting into their profits? Almost a scam, but remember, I am a cynic beyond reason

The "cure" probably exists in not getting it in the first place, and there is a lot of research on societies that don't seem to suffer from it, and what they eat is usually a very different diet from youth, than what we all had. Perhaps that is where the "cure" is.

John

 

[Finnegan]

You sound like my father saying they'd never put a man on the moon. Man by nature is an inquisitive animal. As long as there is a problem to be solved someone will always step up to find an answer.