Diabetes

[RobinN]

As blood sugar levels can cause seizures, and hypoglycemia untreated can turn into diabetes I thought I would post articles that I find on the subject here. Please read the full article, as I am only pulling out a few items of interest.

Since 1958, it has been known that supplemental chromium will prevent and treat diabetes as well as hypoglycemia. Just ask any health food store owner or N.D.! Walter Mertz (the director of the U.S.D.A. field services) published the facts associated with chromium and diabetes in the Federation Proceeding.

"....Almost 50 years ago the mineral chromium was established as an essential nutrient at the federal offices of the National Institutes of Health by Dr. Klaus Schwarz. It was precisely for its role in blood sugar metabolism that this trace element chromium was established as essential.
***
A molecule named Glucose Tolerance Factor (GTF) that corrected abnormal sugar metabolism was found to be composed primarily of the mineral chromium. Dr. Walter Mertz, then an assistant to Dr. Schwarz, reportedly noted at that time in 1959 “Type II diabetes is not a disease. It is the lack of a natural ingredient, known as GTF Chromium.”....

....Chromium works together with insulin in providing sugar to the cells for energy. If chromium levels decrease then sugar delivery to the cells from insulin decrease accordingly.

***
As for chromium and other diseases – that is a very long list. Chromium has great importance at the cellular level from before you are born until the day you die.

Briefly, there is gestational diabetes and prevention of birth defects regarding the beginning of new life. Then there is energy production. OK, that is not a disease matter UNLESS you want to get into hypoglycemia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. People have greater energy and also feel better due to mental health issues. You know, the brain uses more sugar than any other organ in the body.

Vision loss is another hallmark of chromium deficiency and that is why there is much more vision loss with diabetics than with non-diabetics.

Cancer is another condition in which chromium is of profound importance.

http://www.communicationagents.com/c...omium_more.htm

[epileric]

I take chromium every morning. I suggested it to a friend who had been diagnosed as diabetic but she wanted to ask her doctor first. She said when she asked the doctor just about jumped through the roof & said "no" but my friend didn't ask why not.

[RobinN]

I have been reading that it helps with regulating blood sugar.
Give me a truant... but I don't ask permission, if I do my own homework.

[Cint]

Robin,

How low have your daughter's glucose levels been? And has she had her HbA1C checked? I also have Type 1 diabetes and have had glucose levels as low as 40s and and haven't had seizures as of yet from hypoglycemia.

Anyway, here is an article pertaining to Chromium:


Role of Chromium in Human Health and in Diabetes

William T. Cefalu, MD1 and Frank B. Hu, MD, PHD2
1 Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
2 Harvard University School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts



INTRODUCTION

Despite widespread use by patients with diabetes and anecdotal reports in the past regarding its efficacy, until recently, data in humans concerning chromium’s effects on insulin action in vivo or on cellular aspects of insulin action were scarce. Consequently, significant controversy still exists regarding the effect of chromium supplementation on parameters assessing human health. Furthermore, elucidating the cellular and molecular mechanisms by which chromium supplements affect carbohydrate metabolism in vivo is necessary before specific recommendations can be made regarding its routine use in the management of diabetes. This review focuses on providing current information about this trace mineral’s specific mechanisms of action and clinical trials in patients with diabetes.

Chromium, one of the most common elements in the earth’s crust and seawater, exists in our environment in several oxidation states, principally as metallic (Cr0), trivalent (+3), and hexavalent (+6) chromium. The latter is largely synthesized by the oxidation of the more common and naturally occurring trivalent chromium and is highly toxic. Trivalent chromium, found in most foods and nutrient supplements, is an essential nutrient with very low toxicity.

The interest in chromium as a nutritional enhancement to glucose metabolism can be traced back to the 1950s, when it was suggested that brewer’s yeast contained a glucose tolerance factor (GTF) that prevented diabetes in experimental animals (1). This factor was eventually suggested to be a biologically active form of trivalent chromium that could substantially lower plasma glucose levels in diabetic mice (2). Interest regarding chromium administration in patients with diabetes was kindled by the observation in the 1970s that it truly was an essential nutrient required for normal carbohydrate metabolism. A patient receiving total parenteral nutrition (TPN) developed severe signs of diabetes, including weight loss and hyperglycemia that was refractory to increasing insulin dosing (3. . . [Full Text of this Article]

[RobinN]

After a seizure the Paramedics clocked her blood glucose at 32. It went to 50 after her 3 hr glucose tolerance, and I wonder what it would do after a 4 or 5 hr test.

I am not sure what HbA1C is. Is there a name for it?

[Cint]

A1C / A1c / HbA1c: Hemoglobin A1c

a test that measures a person's average blood glucose levels over the past 2 to 3 months. Hemoglobin (HEE-mo-glo-bin) is the part of a red blood cell that carries oxygen to the cells and sometimes joins with the glucose in the bloodstream. Also called hemoglobin A1C or glycosylated (gly-KOH-sih-lay-ted) hemoglobin, the test shows the amount of glucose that sticks to the red blood cell, which is proportional to the amount of glucose in the blood.

see also HbA1c - the 7% solution and take control of your blood sugar.

[Molly97]

In the case of my mother-in-law who had Type 2 diabetes, I witnessed first-hand how it was possible to have what was considered a normal A1C and have her blood sugar totally erratic and out-of-control. She was on insulin at the end of her life and her fasting blood sugar ranged between 120 and 300. She had severe hypoglycemic episodes of blood sugar levels around 50. She even passed out from low blood sugar.

[Cint]

Hi Molly,

Good to hear from you again!

The A1c test is only done every 3-6 months and can be in the "normal" range and a person can still have their blood sugar levels drop erratically day to day, depending on how much insulin, diet, exercise, other meds, illnesses, etc. Some mornings, my BS is in the 40's, but when I have the A1c test done at my endocrinologist's, the A1c is still over 7, and they want it under 6. I take a long acting insulin shot at bedtime and a three shots of insulin during the day with meals.

What are the symptoms of hypoglycemia?

The symptoms of hypoglycemia include:

Shakiness*
Dizziness
Sweating
Hunger
Headache
Pale skin color
Sudden moodiness or behavior changes, such as crying for no apparent reason
Clumsy or jerky movements*
Seizure
Difficulty paying attention, or confusion*
Tingling sensations around the mouth*

*the symptoms when I can usually tell I'm hypoglycemic

[Molly97]

Cindy,
My mother-in-law's A1C was consistently around 5.5. It just goes to show you that medical tests don't always tell the whole story. Unfortunately, she did not understand anything about diabetes except that she was "supposed to stay away from sugar." So while we'd eat dessert, she'd have an extra slice of bread or another helping of potatoes; after all, it wasn't sugar was it?

My heart really went out to her, but try as I may, I could never get her to understand. She was diagnosed in her early 50's and passed at age 85. She could have done so much better if she had simply understood diabetes better. My husband, her son, also has diabetes. We went through training classes at the local hospital both on nutrition and diabetes when he was diagnosed 7 years ago. I'm happy to say that he has his well under control.

[RobinN]

December 11, 2008

Type 1 (juvenile) diabetes and celiac disease appear to share a common genetic origin, scientists at the University of Cambridge and Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, have confirmed.

Their findings, which are reported in this week’s edition of the New England Journal of Medicine, identified seven chromosome regions which are shared between the two diseases. The research suggests that type 1 diabetes and celiac disease may be caused by common underlying mechanisms such as autoimmunity-related tissue damage and intolerance to dietary antigens (foreign substances which prompt an immune response).

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disorder which causes the body to attack the beta cells of the pancreas, limiting its ability to produce the insulin necessary to regulate blood sugar levels. Celiac disease, also an autoimmune disorder, attacks the small intestine and is triggered by the consumption of gluten (a protein found in wheat, barley and rye) and cereals. The development and anatomy of the small intestine and pancreas are closely related, and the gut immune system shares connections with pancreatic lymph nodes, which have been linked to an inflammation of the pancreas and the destruction of beta cells.

In order to assess the genetic similarities and differences between the two inflammatory disorders, the researchers obtained 9339 control samples, 8064 samples from people with type 1 diabetes and 2560 samples from individuals with celiac disease. They found a total of seven loci (regions of a chromosome) were shared between the two.

The researchers, who were funded by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, the Wellcome Trust and Coeliac UK, believe that these regions of the chromosomes regulate the mechanisms that cause the body’s own immune system to attack both the beta cells in the pancreas and the small intestine. Their results suggest that type 1 diabetes and celiac disease not only share genetic causes but could have similar environmental triggers as well.

Professor John Todd, from the University of Cambridge, said: “The next step is to understand how these susceptibility genes affect the immune system, and to keep exploring environmental factors that might alter the risk of type 1 diabetes, which results from an incredibly complex interaction between nature and nurture.”

Professor David van Heel, from Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry , said: “These findings suggest common mechanisms causing both coeliac and type 1 diabetes - we did not expect to see this very high degree of shared genetic risk factors.”

Richard A. Insel, MD., Executive Vice President, Research, at JDRF, said: “These studies demonstrate that type 1 diabetes and celiac disease share far greater genetic overlap than had been appreciated, which helps explain the high prevalence of both diseases occurring simultaneously in an individual, and provide new avenues for understanding the cause and mechanisms of both diseases.”

Sarah Sleet, Chief Executive of Coeliac UK said: “This is a real advancement in understanding the underlying mechanisms generating celiac disease, a much under diagnosed condition which affects 1 in 100 people in the UK today however, only 1 in 8 of those has currently been diagnosed. We hope that these findings will help in increased awareness and diagnostic understanding of both celiac disease and type 1 diabetes.”

Type 1 diabetes and celiac disease together affect about 1% of the population.

http://www.breakthroughdigest.com/di...netic-markers/

[RobinN]

Diabetes Is Not A Disease Of Blood Sugar!

by Ron Rosedale, MD

As I have stated previously, and one concept that I would like to make well-known to save thousands and perhaps millions of lives as soon as possible, is that diabetes is not a disease of blood sugar, but a disease of insulin and perhaps more importantly leptin signaling, and until that concept becomes well-known in the medical community, articles like the one published in this issue will fortunately continue to be published revealing the inadequacy of current conventional medical treatment for chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease, and the falsity of their advice about nutrition.

Typically treatment concentrates on fixing a symptom, in this case elevated blood sugar, rather than the underlying disease. Symptoms are generally the way that nature has taught our bodies to deal with a disease. For instance, a runny nose is a symptom designed to cleanse the nose and sinuses of viruses and bacteria when one has a "cold." Taking a decongestant just inhibits our own body's mechanism for dealing with that infection and will therefore prolong it.

Similarly, treatments which concentrate merely on lowering blood sugar for diabetes while raising insulin levels can actually worsen rather than remedy the actual problem of metabolic miscommunication. It just trades one evil for another.

Elevated insulin levels are highly associated and even causative of:
* heart disease,
* peripheral vascular disease,
* stroke,
* high blood pressure,
* cancer,
* obesity and
* many other so-called diseases.

Since most treatments for (type 2, insulin resistant) diabetes utilize drugs which raise insulin or actual insulin injections itself, the tragic result is that the typical, conventional medical treatment for diabetes contributes to the manifest side effects and the shortened lifespan that diabetics experience.
***
Insulin May Not Even Be The Most Important Hormone In Diabetes Or Other Chronic Diseases Of Aging.

That honor likely goes to leptin.

It appears that the hormone leptin is largely responsible for the accuracy of insulin signaling and whether one becomes insulin resistant or not.

Leptin, a relatively recently discovered hormone produced by fat, tells the body and brain how much energy it has, whether it needs more (saying "be hungry"), whether it should get rid of some (and stop being hungry) and importantly what to do with the energy it has (reproduce, upregulate cellular repair, or not).

Recent compelling research reveals that the two most important organs that will determine whether one becomes (type 2, insulin resistant) diabetic or not are the liver and the brain and it is their ability to listen to leptin that will determine this.

Leptin largely influences, if not controls, the manifest functions of the hypothalamus in the brain, including:

* Reproduction,
* Thyroid function,
* Adrenal function and the
* Sympathetic nervous system.

Fat, and leptin, strongly influences chronic inflammation and therefore diseases associated with this including heart disease, Alzheimer's, and diabetes. It appears now that rather than your brain being in control of your body, fat, by way of leptin, is really in the driver's seat.

By some estimates, diabetes has increased over 700% in the last 50 years. This reveals two very important facts.

*

Diabetes cannot be primarily a genetic disease, since the prior statistic has taken place within the same generation and presumably essentially the same genetics.
*

Something that we have been doing is obviously wrong and needs to be changed.

That something is diet.

I have been incensed about the traditional medical treatment of diabetes for decades. Diabetics have been told that they can eat meals multiple times daily that turn into sugar and even sugar itself, as long as they take enough insulin to lower their blood sugar. The importance of limiting the intake of sugar and foods that turn into sugar has been almost totally ignored. There has been virtually no recognition that high levels of insulin are at least as much of an insult to a person's health as high levels of sugar .

The medical profession still treats diabetes as a disease of blood sugar, since that is a symptom that can be modified with drugs. As I have stated several times in this newsletter previously, diabetes is not a disease of blood sugar, it is a disease of insulin, and perhaps even more appropriately, leptin signaling.

Only when the deeper roots of insulin and leptin signaling are correctly addressed, can diabetes be correctly treated. Until that concept is learned and utilized by the medical profession, needless and deadly outcomes as seen in this study will unfortunately continue.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/ar...s-disease.aspx
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/ar.../diabetes.aspx

[Cint]

Where are these docs getting their info from?

I was never told I could eat multiple times a day without closely watching what I eat, especially watching my sugar intake, along with the carbs. And I was never told it was a disease of blood sugar, but of insulin. I know that high levels of insulin insult the health. I had glucose levels as high as 400-500 initially, and had vision problems, rapid weight loss, shaky feeling, exhausted all the time.

I guess they're talking about GPs?!

Oh, mine is type 1 diabetes, although I was diagnosed as an adult.

[RobinN]

It has been suggested often that Rebecca eat a couple times a day.

I am going to study what is being written about leptins. What I appreciated about the article is that he is digging for the cause. The more we understand, the better we can reduce the incredible increase in this disease. It can begin with undiagnosed hypoglycemia, so that is why I am interested.

[RobinN]

It is of vital interest to note that the rubella and mumps virus can infect pancreatic islet cells and that the infection can severely reduce levels of secreted insulin. Rubella and mumps disease have been strongly associated with the development of Type I Diabetes. It has been found that 85% of children with Type I diabetes have antibodies against the enzyme that converts glutamic acid into GABA (the GAD enzyme - Glutamic Acid Decarboxylase) contributing the excitotoxicity of excess glutamate. These should supplement GABA.

http://www.platovisit.nl/ntk/managing%20autism.pdf

[Molly97]

Robin,
I got hooked up to this website through an update that Dogtor J provided to one of his essays; talks much about the relationship between Type II diabetes and hydrogenated oils.

http://www.dldewey.com/hydroil.htm

[RobinN]

I don't know about the site that you linked. Some of what he writes I don't agree with or follow. There is certainly a lot of information these days that connect Type II with dietary choices. No doubt about that.

[Molly97]

I don't know about the site that you linked. Some of what he writes I don't agree with or follow.

What do you not agree with?

[RobinN]

I think it is his opinion getting mixed up with fact on a few of his articles.
Plus the site is just too chaotic (personal preference, I know)

[RobinN]

Here is one that came through my mail yesterday:

http://www.ultrawellness.com/blog/the-magic-pill

[Molly97]

I think it is his opinion getting mixed up with fact on a few of his articles.

I'm sorry Robin. I really do want to know where you feel he is in error, based on what you've read in other places. Not trying to troll, just want to know since what he says gels with what we've been told in diabetes education classes for hubby.