Diabetics At Risk Due To Fad Diets

[Bluey1]

The ABC is the Australian poor mans version of the BBC
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-07-...obbing-diabetics-of-life-saving-tests/9927608
In Australia Ketone strips are not subsidised and for a pack of 8 cost approx AUD9.00 or a Big Mac.
I have a real problem getting any and the pharmacy takes my order and puts them away for me, I now know why.

 

[Squire Fulwood]

Sorry about your shortage problem but it's all very interesting. A way for some people to manage diabetes has turned into a slimming diet fad. Ooooda thunk.

 

[bulkbiker]

The ABC is the Australian poor mans version of the BBC
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-07-...obbing-diabetics-of-life-saving-tests/9927608
In Australia Ketone strips are not subsidised and for a pack of 8 cost approx AUD9.00 or a Big Mac.
I have a real problem getting any and the pharmacy takes my order and puts them away for me, I now know why.

I can fairly safely say that price is subsidised as in the UK the cheapest are £9.99 for 10 ...significantly more than a big mac.

 

[Boo1979]

Dunno the xchange rate between A$ and pound and neither do I ever eat Mcdonalds so am speaking from a position of happy ignorance but maybe its the big mac thats cheaper in the UK!
Urine keto stick are much cheaper than blood ketone strips and are referred to in the article as being important for T1’s and also being hard to source due to bulk buying by keto dieters

 

[bulkbiker]

@Chowie
This was fairly succinctly debunked by Richard Morris one of the 2 keto dudes this morning.

"ABC Article about Keto dieters using up all the ketone testing strips is a hack piece on behalf of the manufacturer Abbott.

The reason this is a problem is that Abbott are UNDER-PRICING their ketone strips as a "loss leader" to get people to use THEIR meter so they can get their snouts into the NDIS (Taxpayer funded supply of diabetes consumables) trough for subsidized supply of glucose strips.

That's why ketones strips are 1/10th of the price in Australia, cos Abbott want is to gouge the Australian taxpayer for the price of their glucose testing strips.

What that does is sets up a flow of ketone strips out of Australia to other countries who do not subsidize glucose testing strips. It's not just ketogenic dieters. Type 1 Diabetics in other countries also buy discounted strips from the internet that come from this Australian grey market. But ketogenic dieters do too. Not all. Most don't need to test ketones. But those on the Virta study for example do as part of their protocol.

Abbott are whinging that their tactic is costing them too much money and using ketogenic dieters as a whipping boy to accuse of causing the problem. And Alan Barclay and the Dietitians Association of Australia and Diabetes Australia are jumping in to sucker punch the poor ketogenic dieters.

Meanwhile type 2 diabetics ( https://www.virtahealth.com/research ) are able to use ketogenic diets with the help of ketone testing strips and app based tele-medicine to reduce their HbA1c by 1.3%points AND lose 12% of their body weight AND improve their cardiovascular risk markers AND 94% have reduced their insulin all with 83% compliance.

And type 1 diabetics are able to use ketogenic diets sometimes without even needing ketone testing strips to achieve exceptional glucose control ( https://www.sciencedaily.com/rel.../2018/05/180507074218.htm )

The DAA has never known a diet with 83% compliance. Even the "all the chocolate you can eat" diet doesn't have 83% compliance.

Diabetes Australia has never had a program that has reduced the insulin of 94% of participants, and never have they been able to offer type 1 diabetics the hope that they deserve normal glucose control. At this point I'm wondering what are Diabetes Australia for.

And finally Alan Barclay wouldn't know exceptional glucose control if it painted itself purple and jumped on the piano and started singing "I'm exceptional glucose control"."

Edit to add .. ok maybe not so succinct

 

[Bluey1]

Diabetics in Australia have a NDSS National Diabetes Service Scheme card, I had to get an Endocrinologist to sign the paperwork and then to get the pump consumables that was another drama. I take BG test strips off the shelf and I have to go to pharmacists desk hand over my card, sign a form and the price drops from approx AUD66.00 to approx AUD17.00. Pump supplies are reduced from about AUD250 to AUD30 per month. The ketone strips when I could get them I take off the shelf and go to the checkout and pay. No showing anything. The Aust government are as tight as can be when it comes to spending money on anyone else except themselves and close wealthy friends. We have to fight for every little subsidy, these are NOT subsidised

 

[bulkbiker]

, these are NOT subsidised

Not by the state maybe but by the manufacturer.
The strips are far cheaper for you than they would be for me.
The strips you mention cost the equivalent of £5.00 for 10 GBP?AUD exchange rate of 1.79
In the UK they would cost 4 times as much £20 for 10 and that is on Amazon.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Optium-Bet...0458&sr=8-3&keywords=ketone+blood+test+strips

 

[hankjam]

Going by the title alone I would suggest it's not just DB's that are at risk to fad diets.... history of "nutrition" is full of some really odd diets. The trick is to do some research and decide if the diet is something you want to try...
I'm with LCHishF at the mo and it seems good to me.

 

[kokhongw]

The next print would say it is due to a cult diet...a militant cult diet.

 

[Bluey1]

@Chowie
This was fairly succinctly debunked by Richard Morris one of the 2 keto dudes this morning.

"ABC Article about Keto dieters using up all the ketone testing strips is a hack piece on behalf of the manufacturer Abbott.

The reason this is a problem is that Abbott are UNDER-PRICING their ketone strips as a "loss leader" to get people to use THEIR meter so they can get their snouts into the NDIS (Taxpayer funded supply of diabetes consumables) trough for subsidized supply of glucose strips.

That's why ketones strips are 1/10th of the price in Australia, cos Abbott want is to gouge the Australian taxpayer for the price of their glucose testing strips.

What that does is sets up a flow of ketone strips out of Australia to other countries who do not subsidize glucose testing strips. It's not just ketogenic dieters. Type 1 Diabetics in other countries also buy discounted strips from the internet that come from this Australian grey market. But ketogenic dieters do too. Not all. Most don't need to test ketones. But those on the Virta study for example do as part of their protocol.

Abbott are whinging that their tactic is costing them too much money and using ketogenic dieters as a whipping boy to accuse of causing the problem. And Alan Barclay and the Dietitians Association of Australia and Diabetes Australia are jumping in to sucker punch the poor ketogenic dieters.

t

.
I posted this not as a debate if ketone diets are good or bad but what the ketone diets impact on T1 diabetics.
When did you last purchase ketone strips from an Australian brick and mortar chemist?
I did 3 weeks ago. It was a special oder as they were selling out of 10 packs a day and they don't have anymore shelf space (I assume they don't make much of a profit on them) I had checked the shelf for weeks at a number of chemists and they were always out of stock. I finally asked at one chemist as I was getting desperate and they got a special order in for me, I now have 4 unopened packs. If it was the diabetic community that are purchasing all the ketone strips why are the chemists not running out of blood glucose strips as well? I can only assume you are a consumer of both strips so you know we use far more BGL than Ketone strips I know there are only 10 ketone strips vs 100 BGL, but my ratio is about 50 BGL to 1 Ketone strip. I use the test strips to calibrate my CGM (not Abbott, don't get me started on the Libre).

You mention the NDIS - what has that got to do with diabetics? Please tell me how I can get on that gravy train (providing I don't have to have a serious disability) something along the lines of the leper from the life of Brian would be great .
Abbott (whom I'm no fan, I can assure you), have found a loop hole and are advertising the Libre heavily on TV, which is actually cannibalising their test strip market, I can only assume there is way more profit in the Libre than with subsidised test strips. Maybe they are just being smart and don't want to be the next Kodak.
I was given a free meter by a manufacturer which is NOT Abbott last week as they are most certainly trying to get us to purchase their test strips and they don't have Ketone strips, this offer was only open to T1.
I found it interesting that this article backed up my real life experience.

 

[DeeJay2018]

Hi bulkbiker

Any chance you can provide the correct link for your Science Daily reference as the one in your post simply produces a Facebook error message - rather unexpected methinks.

Cheers

 

[bulkbiker]

Hi bulkbiker

Any chance you can provide the correct link for your Science Daily reference as the one in your post simply produces a Facebook error message - rather unexpected methinks.

Cheers

THe passage I quoted was from a facebook posting.. I'll try and see if I can get the original linked article

Sorry I get an error 404 message..

 

[bulkbiker]

Hi bulkbiker

Any chance you can provide the correct link for your Science Daily reference as the one in your post simply produces a Facebook error message - rather unexpected methinks.

Cheers

Got there in the end...

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/05/180507074218.htm

This was the study based on the TYPEONEGRIT facebook group who follow Dr Bernstein's low carb method.

 

[LooperCat]

Here’s the original article, if it’s of any interest.

http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2018/05/03/peds.2017-3349

I’m a member of TYPEONEGRIT on FB, the results people are getting are astonishing. I test my ketones once or maybe twice a week, not to make sure I’m in ketosis, because I know I am due to my intake of carbs, but to make sure they don’t get out of hand. I usually test if my BG has been higher than normal, just to be on the safe side.

 

[EllieM]

That's really interesting. I've never had brilliant control (aside from pregnancies where I did have brilliant control but also lost hypo awareness), my normal hba1c is in 7s, but I've also never tested for ketones and never had DKA (including at diagnosis, a T1 mother ensued an incredibly early diagnosis 48 years ago.) I've been pondering the benefits of very low carb (I'm on 80-100g per day now). Would I have to start testing for ketones? Should I be testing for ketones now?
Am I unusual in my lack of DKA events?

 

[MrsGruffy]

It doesn't make sense that Abbott is trying to crack the consumables market in Australia, because they're already there. All my stuff is Abbott, and my strips are definitely subsidised. I'm on the pension and I pay AUD 1.20 for 100 strips. There's also plenty of ketone strip boxes at my local chemist, but I live in Tasmania, and it's possible the diet fad hasn't got here yet. We usually run around 20 years behind the rest of Australia (and that's the way we like it!). I don't understand why a pharmacy would let someone buy 10 boxes of strips if they're running low, and they have diabetic customers. Some of the pharmacists are stupid obviously, as is obvious by the one who sold 100s of boxes of laxatives to an anorexic woman (10 or more at a time), which ultimately resulted in her death. They should have an obligation to be a bit more responsible. Moving the keto strips behind the counter would probably help.

 

[Deleted member 308541]

Moving the keto strips behind the counter would probably help.

Then only supply them to people with a NDSS card.