Diabetes surely must be the degenerative curse of the Modern Age. In 2011, 26 million people or 8.3% of the population in the United States had the disease, with nearly 2 million people over the age of 20 newly diagnosed in 2010 alone. 366 million people have diabetes worldwide and this number has nearly doubled in the last 30 years.
For those over age 65 in the USA, nearly 27% are suffering diabetes’ ill effects which include high rates of cardiovascular disease, neuropathy, kidney damage, blindness, high blood pressure, and amputation.
Most worrisome, UnitedHealth Group projects that half of Americans could have diabetes or prediabetes by 2020, costing $3.35 trillion over the next decade. The CDC projects that if trends continue, 1 in every 3 Americans will have diabetes in 2050 (including children) up from about 1 in 10 today.
Jean Claude Mbanya, recent President of the International Diabetes Federation, describes the accelerating threat of diabetes to the world’s population as having a “relentlessly upwards trajectory.”
This is certainly an accurate statement given that in 2011, over 3 times as many Americans – 79 million – suffered from prediabetes as diabetes itself. This means that with a population of 313.9 million in 2012, 1 in 3 Americans already suffer from either diabetes or prediabetes.
With such a staggering number of people waiting in the wings, so to speak, and very close to an actual diabetes diagnosis, the prognosis for turning around this epidemic anytime soon seems grim indeed.
Diabetes and Heart Disease Risk
For the millions presented with a diabetes diagnosis, the threat of heart disease looms large. According to the American Diabetes Association, heart disease was noted as a factor on 68% of diabetes-related death certificates among people aged 65 years or older in 2004.
No wonder when someone with diabetes or prediabetes comes into a conventional doctor’s office, the immediate reaction is to put the patient on cholesterol lowering statin drugs in an attempt to manage the huge risk of heart disease.
Unfortunately, this widely accepted Standard of Care urgently needs to be reexamined.
Statin Use by Type 2 Diabetics Worse Than Ineffective
While statins may be a popular prescriptive treatment for diabetics by conventional medicine, research is not bearing out the benefits of this approach for those with type 2 diabetes – formerly called adult-onset diabetes.
Rather than reduce the risk of coronary artery calcification, a strong predictor of cardiovascular risk, statin use by type 2 diabetics appears to actually accelerate it!
This shocking discovery was made as part of the Veterans Affairs Diabetes Trial and reported in the November 2012 issue of Diabetes Care. Researchers analyzing the results of 197 participants in the trial discovered that coronary artery calcification was “significantly higher” in more frequent statin users than in less frequent users. This was despite nearly optimal LDL cholesterol levels.
Researchers concluded: “. . . accelerated progression of calcified atherosclerosis in [type-2 diabetics] by statins may have the effect of lessening these medications’ overall benefit.”
If you are one of the millions of people with type 2 diabetes taking statin drugs, it’s time to have a little chit chat with your doctor about whether this is truly the best approach. With the authorities who determine Standard of Care notoriously slow to respond to new research, however, an even better approach would be to consult with a doctor who is current enough to think outside the diabetes Standard of Care box.
Sources
Diabetes Statistics
Diabetes Research Center
Diabetes Public Health Resource
World Diabetes Day
Progression of vascular calcification is increased with statin use in the Veterans Affairs Diabetes Trial (VADT)
And More Wrong Advice
Finally I got the article which I was looking for. Thanks for writing such a superb article
The main reason the number of type 2 diabetics is going up is the medical community has continually reduced the blood glucose parameters determining if the patient has diabetes. Its now around 100.IF THEY WERE WRONG ABOUT THE FEMINIZING SOY OR EATING CHOLESTEROL, THEM MAYBE THIS DIABETES THING NEEDS TO BE RETHOUGHT. Another curiosity : Why is it that you are twice as likely to get diagnosed with diabetes if you have health insurance? Once diagnosed you have to be tested every 3 months. Many factors can cause it to raise up: If you are a little nervous at the doctor’s office, your liver may do a symogian effect sugar dump. If you are dehydrated, your blood is more concentrated and you may test higher. My son is a healthy 17 year old type 1 and we have had a great deal of experience with these issues. DOCTORS MOSTLY TREAT SYMPTOMS PIECEMEAL AND NOT THE PROBLEM: Diabetes is a symptom. Why is the blood sugar high? Is the excess fat cell producing too many hormones (they are hormone factories) or is the fat cell blocking access to the cell membrane where the Key (insulin) unlocks the cell to receive the glucose in the blood stream. Is something shutting off the beta cells from releasing insulin? (somatostatin is secreted by pancreatic delta cells to do this) So many questions. It is just so hard to trust this era of physicians since they don’t root out what is causing these symptoms (like high blood pressure or heart plaque or high blood sugar or low thyroid…ALL SYMPTOMS.) My friend’s son was diagnosed with IBS and IBD at the age of 2. By 3, after steroids and sulphur they decided to remove his colon. For the symptoms of bloody stools. At the last minute, she paid $70 for his med recs and found one lab tech who thought he saw E. Histolytica amoeba at 1 year. She found a doctor to treat the 3 year old for a parasitic infection. No more bloody stools. Has his colon.
I told my dr ” lets NOT. Even go there.
What!!! oh well, I don’t mind taking one less pill…..
Another thing I’ve learned can make your cholesterol levels seem really off is when your thyroid is out of whack. One time, when my husband was at the doctor, the doctor was very concerned about my husband’s cholesterol levels and insisted on a statin. I said no way. The doctor looked over the rim of his glasses at me and asked if I wanted my husband to die.
Now annoyed, I asked to see a copy of his blood work. I immediately noticed that his TSH was above a 5. Having read all of Suzanne Somers’ books where she interviews forward-thinking physicians, I knew that it was very old school for doctors to still believe that a 5 on the TSH was “normal” Many “with it” doctors now understand that anything above a 2 should be looked at and watched and treated. The doctor was an ass and told me HE was the one who went to medical school. And I said well WE will be the ones walking out the door.
I found my husband another doctor who prescribes bioidenticals. (Because whether you want to go on bioidenticals or not, these docs do seem to be the most with it as far as health knowledge) Within a couple of weeks of being on thyroid meds, my husband’s cholesterol came back into normal ranges. Cholesterol problem solved.
I’m a 22 yr old wife and mother. I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 2009. I was 18 turning 19, and it was a shock. I was having frequent thirst, urination, weakness, low energy, stomach pains, etc. The hospital told me that my pancreas is not making any insulin, so I would have to be insulin dependent. Is it true that there is no cure (even in the holistic world) for this type? I live in Atlanta Georgia…I was wondering if there’s any holistic endocrinologists, internal medicine doctors, etc. in that area, or does it matter? I don’t have any insurance either, so that makes finding a doctor almost impossible.The only reason I can see this doctor that I have now for free is because of a program called charity care. But she’s not holistic of course, but I’m still thankful. With my second pregnancy, my cholesterol levels were a little off, and my doctor talked about prescribing me medication for that after I deliver. But my levels were checked again after delivery, and they were within range. I was wondering what the holistic world thinks about the ingredients in insulin. Anyway, thanks for posting!
You should check out “Be in Health” in Thomaston, Georgia (probably about 1.5 hrs from you). They have seen many people who used to have Diabetes (both type I & II) healed completely and no longer have it. http://www.beinhealth.com
Type 1 diabetics healed completely? Are you sure about that? How? Thomaston is too far for me to travel. But thank you. I did browse the website, but when I clicked Thomaston, it said I couldn’t access the page.
Yes healed completely. Be in Health deals with the root of diseases. They have studied how diseases work in our bodies, how drugs change/help mask the problem in order to understand the root cause and then the path toward healing. They have worked with people with many different diseases, syndromes, and ailments for nearly 30 years with great success. They specialize in dealing with diseases that the medical community consider incurable. They are a faith based (Christian) organization although they are open to work with anyone. It’s not your typical healing approach (ie: herbs, nutrition etc) but rather aims to deal mostly with trauma and broken relationships. if they are seeing people getting rid of their very debilitating diseases, then it’s worth checking into. i went for a week and really enjoyed it. i have seen ailments i had for years never return based on their teachings and insights. everyone there is very loving and accepting. you never feel judged!
There is no cure for Type 1 diabetes at this time; it is a very different disease than Type 2. In general, the less insulin you can take to get your BS in the normal range, the better off you will be. It is necessary to take, but not necessarily good for you. Some things that will help make the insulin you take more effective are eating as healthy as you possibly can, and regular exercise. I worked with a few Type 1 diabetics who have taken herbal supplements that helped decrease the amount of insulin needed, but I do not know what they were. I recently read that Type 1 (and, actually, all autoimmune diseases) might be linked to undiagnosed celiac disease, or at the least, gluten sensitivity. Celiac and Type 1 often occur together, but this article suggested that celiac/gluten might in fact cause your body to attack your pancreas! As it happens, gluten-containing foods also tend to cause increases in blood sugar, so you might as well avoid them anyway! A holistic doctor would not be able to provide a cure, but may be able to help you avoid taking massive amounts of insulin. I have pretty good insurance, and they sadly do not cover naturopathic medicine either. Good luck!!
What is gluten? What foods should I avoid? What foods should I eat? Thank you for your input.
Chleo, I have a good friend that decided to make huge life changes, starting with his diet. He lost 60 pounds and got OFF insulin. He just got active and paid attention to what went in his body. You can do it! It is a wonderful thing and my friend gives God credit for leading him to this life change. Just do your research and ask questions and it will change you and sometimes those around you! God bless.
I would talk to Joette Calabrese. She is a homeopath that posts on this site sometimes and has a lot of experience reversing disease. She will do a free phone consultation with to talk about what she can do with homeopathy and diet.
http://joettecalabrese.com/
A few years ago my hubby’s dr said he was on his way to diabetes & prescribed a statin. I wasn’t happy about that. I got serious about our diet. Dr suggested a low carb diet as well so i did that. I was determined to get him off those statins. I was already doing Westin Price diet but even more so. I’m happy to say after a few months dr agreed he didn’t need statins anymore. I should also say he was and still is exercising regularly.
Glad I declined the prescription my doctor wanted to give me for cholesterol.
Good for you Rhonda! My mom also declined and that doctor tried to harass and humiliate her for it! She even told her that she would die of a heart attack or stroke! Talk about presumptuous! I don’t understand how some medical folks can forget that they are there to HELP…not oppress! I grow weary of the “one size fits all..says ME!”
Thank you for writing about this… I’ve had many of the same concerns that statins cause more problems than they solve especially since there’s no push to use them for a moment while working on diet and lifestyle issues. People end up on them for the rest of their life.
What’s also highly alarming (but obviously beyond the topic in this article) is the push for LOW LOW LOW cholesterol levels. Doctors overprescribe statins which drops the cholesterol so low that thyroid function also drops.
I appreciate where you are coming from with this and will definitely share this article because it provides my readers and others out there searching for answers more food for thoughts about what the best approach for ourselves individually can be.