Is there more risk from flu with diabetes?

AdamJames

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1,338
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Thank you! I need to be well for Friday, as I’m going into hospital for an operation on one foot and a steroid injection in my other foot. More things to ruin My December numbers! :banghead:

Have another hug, and I wish you and your feet well on Friday.
 

librarising

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I’ve declined the jab for over ten years now, instead opting for high daily doses of vit D
Glad it's not just me then.
When you see how outbreaks of flu correlate with parts of the world that get less strong sun, and at times of the year when you get less sun-time, and you've investigated a few Vitamin D experts, and discovered how low vit D is correlated with higher cancer rates, the possible development of T2D, hypothyroidism etc, the claims of some that vit D is better than a vaccine for preventing flu seems quite plausible. For me it always involves as much investigation on the subject as possible, ideally both YT videos and scholarly articles

N.B. 'vitamin' D is NOT a vitamin, but a hormone which helps boost the immune system.

So there are at least two of us @wiflib ;)
Geoff
 

ringi

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3,365
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No one produces glucose.

Your body does create glucose from the food you eat. It doesn't endogenously produce glucose. If you are eating lees than 40g of carbs then yes, your body is turning protein and amino acids in fats into glucose. It is not producing glucose.

So, no one produces glucose. That's not a thing. That's not how the body works. You don't magically produce glucose from nowhere, you have to eat something for it to be turned into glucose. It's not produced enogenously by the body.

Does that clarify?

I disagree with this, our body can break down our own protein (mussels) to make glucose, so there is no limit (other the death) on how much glucose our body can make even when we are fasting! But unless someone has Type2, their body will not make more glucose then they need. (The process is partly controlled by the alpha cells in the pancreas and it is possible for someone’s alpha cells to be very Insulin Resistance.)

(One of the actions of metformin is to reduce how much glucose the liver makes, maybe by making the alpha cells less Insulin Resistance.)

Thankfully this process slows down quickly once someone loses fat from their liver etc, so in most people with Type2 is self-limiting. But there are people with Type2, still producing more than a “normal” level of insulin who without drugs have uncontrolled BG even when they are fasting.
 

ringi

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I consider it to be professional misconnect for anyone with high-risk clients not to have the flu jab because even if you only get it very mildly so, therefore, get no symptoms, you can still pass it on. (The problem is that the flu jab is least likely to work well in the people who are at most risk.)
 

bulkbiker

BANNED
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19,576
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My old mum (91)has the flu jab each year. Each year she comes down with a cold and throat that lasts most of the winter. Each year we say don't have the jab... each year she has it!
I politely declined it and instead just avoid as many people as I can. Seems to work for me... never had flu.
 

wiflib

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I consider it to be professional misconnect for anyone with high-risk clients not to have the flu jab because even if you only get it very mildly so, therefore, get no symptoms, you can still pass it on. (The problem is that the flu jab is least likely to work well in the people who are at most risk.)

Thankfully, my professional governing body doesn’t.
 

ringi

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Let’s remember that the best way to stop a 91 year old getting the flu is for all chidden to be vacillated. When the trails of the new childhood flu vaccine were done there was a clear drop in the number of old people getting the flu.

None of the current flu vaccines works that well in old people, but even a limited level of protection is of great benefit.
 

Art Of Flowers

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I had a flu jab this year at Boots the chemist. It is free if you are diabetic or over 65. I had a bit of a sore arm the day after. This lasted a couple of days. Apart from that, no other side effects.

All people with diabetes are advised to get the flu jab. I think the reasoning behind this is that people with diabetes may have a weakened immune system due to high glucose levels and are more likely to get infections. Maybe if you have reduced your blood sugars to non-diabetic levels through a low carb diet then you are no more at risk from colds and flu than the general population.
 

ringi

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Maybe if you have reduced your blood sugars to non-diabetic levels through a low carb diet then you are no more at risk from colds and flu than the general population.

Look at the BG graph that is posted on the first page of this thread by someone with some of the best BG control from low carb I have seen, yet with a minor virus, her BG nearly doubled. The problem is not an increased risk of getting the flu, it a greatly increased risk of a very bad outcome if we do get the flu.
 

Rachox

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Look at the BG graph that is posted on the first page of this thread by someone with some of the best BG control from low carb I have seen, yet with a minor virus, her BG nearly doubled. The problem is not an increased risk of getting the flu, it a greatly increased risk of a very bad outcome if we do get the flu.
And there’s another thread posted last evening from a Type 2 who’s ended up in hospital on an insulin drip due to flu raising her sugars into the 20s
 

librarising

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And there’s another thread posted last evening from a Type 2 who’s ended up in hospital on an insulin drip due to flu raising her sugars into the 20s
That person has sleep apnea.
"By definition, if you have a sleep-breathing problem, your immune system is overly active. And so is your nervous system. This is why your body over-reacts"
http://doctorstevenpark.com/colds-viruses-and-sleep-apnea
So we always need to look beyond diabetes. I'd not dissuade anyone who was diabetic with a compromised immune system from having the flu jab.
I simply don't believe diabetes is reason enough to have it. That's why others raise the issue from time to time of 'co-morbidities'.
As always it's a personal choice :)
Geoff
 

Rachox

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That person has sleep apnea.
"By definition, if you have a sleep-breathing problem, your immune system is overly active. And so is your nervous system. This is why your body over-reacts"
http://doctorstevenpark.com/colds-viruses-and-sleep-apnea
So we always need to look beyond diabetes. I'd not dissuade anyone who was diabetic with a compromised immune system from having the flu jab.
I simply don't believe diabetes is reason enough to have it. That's why others raise the issue from time to time of 'co-morbidities'.
As always it's a personal choice :)
Geoff
Oh sorry it wasn’t apparent she has sleep apnoea from her post!
 

AdamJames

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Type of diabetes
Type 2
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So we always need to look beyond diabetes.

This is nothing really to do with your point, I know, but I just wanted to quote you out of context because the words work for what I'm about to say :) ...

It occurred to me today, while spending ages looking for the Vitamin D tablets in Tesco and a whole barrage of people shuffled past me coughing and sneezing proudly into the air as if it was some form of self-expression, that if people actually made the effort to try to stop spreading this stuff, quite literally hundreds of thousands of people around the world may actually live for another year.

There's no perfect solution. Putting your hand over your mouth isn't great because you then touch stuff, but it's better than nothing and goes some way to demonstrating you are a higher life form with an understanding of the universe rather than a farmyard animal.

I've developed a habit of sneezing / coughing into my arm, the flexible joint thing where the top bit connects to the bottom bit and has an elbow on the other side, I'm pretty sure it must have a name. That's not likely to come into contact with much. And I always turn away to do it if I'm near people or food.

I'm not sure if this sounds like a rant, but that is what I'm trying for!
 

Rachox

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This is nothing really to do with your point, I know, but I just wanted to quote you out of context because the words work for what I'm about to say :) ...

It occurred to me today, while spending ages looking for the Vitamin D tablets in Tesco and a whole barrage of people shuffled past me coughing and sneezing proudly into the air as if it was some form of self-expression, that if people actually made the effort to try to stop spreading this stuff, quite literally hundreds of thousands of people around the world may actually live for another year.

There's no perfect solution. Putting your hand over your mouth isn't great because you then touch stuff, but it's better than nothing and goes some way to demonstrating you are a higher life form with an understanding of the universe rather than a farmyard animal.

I've developed a habit of sneezing / coughing into my arm, the flexible joint thing where the top bit connects to the bottom bit and has an elbow on the other side, I'm pretty sure it must have a name. That's not likely to come into contact with much. And I always turn away to do it if I'm near people or food.

I'm not sure if this sounds like a rant, but that is what I'm trying for!
I agree completely! Oh and that bit of your arm opposite your elbow is called your antecubital fossa! Not quite as succinct as elbow!
 

Robkww

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262
I have had a flu jab for the past two winters, since diagnosis in September 2016, and this year also had the delight of a "long lasting" pneumonia jab!
 

bamba

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319
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Diabetics are not only entitled to anti-'Flu jabs, but anti-Pneumonia jabs too.
I'm still waiting for mine - apparently there is a shortage of the vaccine.
 

Robkww

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Diabetics are not only entitled to anti-'Flu jabs, but anti-Pneumonia jabs too.
I'm still waiting for mine - apparently there is a shortage of the vaccine.

Hi - the Nurse who delivered my pneumonia jab did say there had been a shortage and that relief supplies had only just arrived - perhaps worth a phone call.