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If you look at the enzymes produced by the human physiology there is one called sucrase which catalyses the splitting of sucrose into glucose and fructose. Amylase is produced to catalyse the breakdown of starch into glucose. Therefore, it is not unreasonable to suggest that humans evolved to...

You may find this interesting, as it is by a GP that doesn’t hold sway with current thinking on cholesterol, diabetes etc. https://drmalcolmkendrick.org/2015/08/04/turning-diabetes-upside-down/.

The other day I had a patient with a high BM and associated symptoms of thirst and polyuria and as part of the assessment I did suggest this website and possibly reducing carbohydrates etc. Their BM was high, but not spectacularly so; no dangerous levels of ketones in capillary blood test...

This extract from a book may be of interest, basically brain cells can use ketone bodies for energy when in long term starvation, but if your BM is above 3.5 mmol then glucose remains the energy source. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK22436/

An even better question and one that I cannot answer! I know that one GP that I see is convinced of the benefits of a LCHF diet, and in fact she recommended it to me, but the practice is not just one GP, and so a change to the attitude of the practice is difficult. Also this particular GP is...

This is a good question. I’ll try and put forward a possible explanation, which is based on my understanding. In Dr. Unwin’s practice he has decided, as a physician, that in his clinical judgement the NICE guidelines can be safely ignored. He has then defined the scope of practice for all of his...

First of all I can only apologise for the attitude of my nursing colleagues, this is not true of all of us. I am a firm believer in the expert patient but I know what you mean, with regards to some education sessions. With regards to the fuel required by the brain to function, the brain...

Please do not criticise your practice nurse for not following anything other than the official NICE guidelines for the simple reason to do anything else would mean that they would lose their professional registration with the Nursing and midwifery council as they’d be in breach of their code of...

DKA can affect people with type 2, although it is more common in type 1. NHS guidelines suggest that having a BM that is consistently above 11 would indicate a need to test for ketones; this can be either urine or blood. If the urine dipstick shows more than 2+ ketones then a blood test is...

Also LDL and HDL are not cholesterol, they're used as representative markers. Cholesterol is essential for a multitude of different physiological processes. The jury is still out on whether cholesterol causes plaques or not, there is evidence that cholesterol is present because there is a clot...

The great cholesterol con by Dr. Malcolm Kendrick is a good starting point, as is his blog. I stopped taking my statin 4 months ago and my Hba1c has improved slightly over the subsequent months, I'm also trying to reduce my carbohydrates at the same time. There is at least one paper that...

As I'm a registered HCP I cannot give you advice; but I could suggest that you visit a website that you may find interesting, particularly one of the books mentioned. The website is a blog written by a practising GP and health sceptic https://drmalcolmkendrick.org/. He discusses cardiovascular...

As an HCP, who also happens to have both hypothyroidism and T2 DM, we are somewhat restricted by NICE guidance. As nurses we have to stay within guidelines, otherwise we are at risk of losing our registration; unlike physicians who can go off piste with little chance of sanctions by the GMC...

The machines that I have encountered flash Ketones? when the BM is above 20 (IIRC). The guidelines state that DKA should be considered if the BM is consistently above 11 mmol/l AND ketones in urine 3+ OR ketones in blood >0.6 mmol/l. The NHS choices website says that DKA is unlikely with blood...

The body stores approximately 400 mg vitamin C, when taken orally it starts to excrete through the urine with doses between 60mg and 100mg, excretion increasing as the dose increases. Also as the dose increases the absorbancy through the gut wall decreases.Too much vitamin C causes diarrhoea. If...

Many thanks for all of those who took part. As I have already said this was a pilot study which I now need to analyse and think about how I wish to proceed.

I have chosen, with the agreement of my GP, that this is the way that I want to manage my condition at the moment, partly because I don't want to get hung up or obsess over the numbers, which I could easily do, its for my own peace of mind.

This is the Quality and Outcomes Framework, "the annual reward and incentive programme", http://content.digital.nhs.uk/qof. GP practices are rewarded for the quality of care given to patients, this includes monitoring and treating long term conditions. Therefore, there is an incentive for GPs to...

That's a good point and I will add the question. One of the purposes of a pilot study is to identify shortcomings in the questions and make changes to improve the outcomes. Thank you to everyone who have responded, I have sufficient numbers to progress and therefore I'll be closing the survey...

Back in May 2014 I had an HbA1c that was high ,approaching 8.4 mmol/mol, the nurse at my GP surgery started talking about starting insulin therapy. At that point I vowed to do anything that I possibly could to ensure I didn't need insulin. I started to use recipes from the Hairy Bikers dieting...