chocoholic
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It's not often I'm moved to write to the papers but our local paper put out an article very recently that I felt needed comment, so here is my lengthy rant:
Dear Editor,
It is always good to see that new initiatives are coming to the fore, with the aim of raising awareness about diabetes. As a diabetic myself, however, your article 'Battling the diabetes timebomb', left me less than happy.
Firstly, as is always the case with the media, not enough emphasis is made of the difference between Type 1 Diabetes and Type 2 Diabetes, the former often over-looked as being an auto-immune disease, which is not brought on by gluttony or lack of exercise. In fact, I imagine a lot of non-obese Type 2's get pretty mad at being labelled fat all the time anyway, when not all type 2's are overweight.
My main concern though is the dietary advice still peddled by the medical profession, including Diabetes UK. We are told to eat ' the same normal healthy diet as anyone else, including starchy foods like bread and pasta'. When you read the first two paragraphs under your title 'It's all about sugar' you inform your readers that "diabetes is a condition where the amount of glucose in the blood is too high because the body cannot use it properly. Glucose comes from the digestion of carbohydrates........" How can it then make sense to give dietary advice that tells diabetics to eat plenty of starchy carbs. If a diabetic cannot metabolise sugar, why would you tell that person to eat carbohydrate that turns to glucose.....the very thing our bodies cannot metabolise?
It is only through personal research that I read of the success of diabetics who had reduced their carb. intake. It may surprise you to know that all those who have substantially reduced their carb. intake have almost non-diabetic HbA1c levels, reduced cholesterol levels etc. etc.
The news is only just starting to filter through and in Saga magazine this month, you can read further info. to back up what I am talking about. Here is the link:
http://www.saga.co.uk/saga-Magazine/apr ... abetes.asp
The trouble is that Diabetes Nurses are trained to tell us to eat a low-fat, low-salt, high carb. diet and until THEIR training is updated, the cost of diabetes care will keep on spiralling.
When I was wrongly diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes in 2003, I was put straight onto tablets, even though guidelines say newly diagnosed diabetics should have 3 months trying without medication. The BNF say this in their guidelines :
6.1.2 Antidiabetic drugs
Oral antidiabetic drugs are used for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus. They should be prescribed only if the patient fails to respond adequately to at least 3 months’ restriction of energy and carbohydrate intake and an increase in physical activity. They should be used to augment the effect of diet and exercise, and not to replace them.
This does NOT happen in my experience. I'd like to know why the dietary advice given out is the exact opposite to that.
As I said previously I was wrongly diagnosed in 2003 as a Type 2 diabetic. At my insistence, I was referred to a diabetes specialist, who within minutes of seeing me guessed I might actually be a Late Onset Type 1. (More often referred to as a LADA diabetic, though this Type rarely gets any media coverage.) Anyway, after only 1 year, I was put onto insulin and when you are on insulin, it is vital to test blood sugars frequently. As a Type 2, I can tell you it is very hard to get enough test strips to test as frequently as you want to.In the end I phoned head of Medicine Management for this area who told me, I shouldn't need to test more than ONCE a day. By law, if you are on insulin, you are supposed to test before driving but the person I spoke to just kept repeating 'If you are Type 2, you can't have more test strips.' He couldn't see that being on insulin was almost impossible on one test strip a day.Now that I am properly diagnosed Type 1 and under a specialist, he agrees to me having those extra test strips but what about all those poor Type 2's having to fight for test strips? How are they to keep an eye on blood sugar levels? We all know it's about costs but surely self-management of this condition is preferable to the very costly long-term complications that can arise if diabetics are prevented from regular testing.
I do agree encouraging individuals to lead less sedentary lives is important and I, myself, joined the NHS Healthwalks scheme some years back. These walks are not just for overweight couch-potatoes. I am a slim 51-year-old, who very soon came to realise that nothing brings blood-sugar levels down like a burst of exercise and walking puts no pressure on joints or the bank balance.
My hope is that, in future, articles about diabetes will offer better and more updated dietary advice for all diabetics and that if self-management is to be encouraged, diabetics have the necessary tools (ie. adequate test strips) to do that.
Thank you for reading.
Yours faithfully,
I don't expect a reply from them but it made me feel better for typing it.
Dear Editor,
It is always good to see that new initiatives are coming to the fore, with the aim of raising awareness about diabetes. As a diabetic myself, however, your article 'Battling the diabetes timebomb', left me less than happy.
Firstly, as is always the case with the media, not enough emphasis is made of the difference between Type 1 Diabetes and Type 2 Diabetes, the former often over-looked as being an auto-immune disease, which is not brought on by gluttony or lack of exercise. In fact, I imagine a lot of non-obese Type 2's get pretty mad at being labelled fat all the time anyway, when not all type 2's are overweight.
My main concern though is the dietary advice still peddled by the medical profession, including Diabetes UK. We are told to eat ' the same normal healthy diet as anyone else, including starchy foods like bread and pasta'. When you read the first two paragraphs under your title 'It's all about sugar' you inform your readers that "diabetes is a condition where the amount of glucose in the blood is too high because the body cannot use it properly. Glucose comes from the digestion of carbohydrates........" How can it then make sense to give dietary advice that tells diabetics to eat plenty of starchy carbs. If a diabetic cannot metabolise sugar, why would you tell that person to eat carbohydrate that turns to glucose.....the very thing our bodies cannot metabolise?
It is only through personal research that I read of the success of diabetics who had reduced their carb. intake. It may surprise you to know that all those who have substantially reduced their carb. intake have almost non-diabetic HbA1c levels, reduced cholesterol levels etc. etc.
The news is only just starting to filter through and in Saga magazine this month, you can read further info. to back up what I am talking about. Here is the link:
http://www.saga.co.uk/saga-Magazine/apr ... abetes.asp
The trouble is that Diabetes Nurses are trained to tell us to eat a low-fat, low-salt, high carb. diet and until THEIR training is updated, the cost of diabetes care will keep on spiralling.
When I was wrongly diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes in 2003, I was put straight onto tablets, even though guidelines say newly diagnosed diabetics should have 3 months trying without medication. The BNF say this in their guidelines :
6.1.2 Antidiabetic drugs
Oral antidiabetic drugs are used for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus. They should be prescribed only if the patient fails to respond adequately to at least 3 months’ restriction of energy and carbohydrate intake and an increase in physical activity. They should be used to augment the effect of diet and exercise, and not to replace them.
This does NOT happen in my experience. I'd like to know why the dietary advice given out is the exact opposite to that.
As I said previously I was wrongly diagnosed in 2003 as a Type 2 diabetic. At my insistence, I was referred to a diabetes specialist, who within minutes of seeing me guessed I might actually be a Late Onset Type 1. (More often referred to as a LADA diabetic, though this Type rarely gets any media coverage.) Anyway, after only 1 year, I was put onto insulin and when you are on insulin, it is vital to test blood sugars frequently. As a Type 2, I can tell you it is very hard to get enough test strips to test as frequently as you want to.In the end I phoned head of Medicine Management for this area who told me, I shouldn't need to test more than ONCE a day. By law, if you are on insulin, you are supposed to test before driving but the person I spoke to just kept repeating 'If you are Type 2, you can't have more test strips.' He couldn't see that being on insulin was almost impossible on one test strip a day.Now that I am properly diagnosed Type 1 and under a specialist, he agrees to me having those extra test strips but what about all those poor Type 2's having to fight for test strips? How are they to keep an eye on blood sugar levels? We all know it's about costs but surely self-management of this condition is preferable to the very costly long-term complications that can arise if diabetics are prevented from regular testing.
I do agree encouraging individuals to lead less sedentary lives is important and I, myself, joined the NHS Healthwalks scheme some years back. These walks are not just for overweight couch-potatoes. I am a slim 51-year-old, who very soon came to realise that nothing brings blood-sugar levels down like a burst of exercise and walking puts no pressure on joints or the bank balance.
My hope is that, in future, articles about diabetes will offer better and more updated dietary advice for all diabetics and that if self-management is to be encouraged, diabetics have the necessary tools (ie. adequate test strips) to do that.
Thank you for reading.
Yours faithfully,
I don't expect a reply from them but it made me feel better for typing it.
