The Gift of Diabetes

photo by NASA Goddard Photo & Video

I asked the universe, unknowingly

to give me a tool to help change my life

something to remind me, daily

to rock steady and stride beyond temptation

I asked for immediate feedback

to the ultimate question

“Have I cared for my body/mind so righteously well today

that I deserve great health?"

Rescue Mission, Not Recovery

photo by nukeit1`

Not counting the constant marketing buzz around new insulin pumps and other gadgets, I haven’t seen much relevant diabetes science coming across my screen in the last few months. Until today. Thanks to Kerri (@sixuntilme) for a tweet link to the news of Professor Bart Roep of Leiden University Medical Centre who published his findings on Tuesday. A quick PubMed search shows he’s an authority with a number of published stories I’ll add to my reading list. I’m surprised I haven’t run across his autoimmune research before. A quick search also shows he has no pharmaceutical industry money cluttering up his credibility. His research is the first support I’ve seen in a while for my theory that Type 1 diabetics have recoverable insulin producing capacity.

Per the article on the Radio Netherlands Worldwide site,

“Professor Roep discovered that people suffering from type 1 diabetes still have insulin-producing cells, albeit dormant. His discovery negates earlier research which concluded that these cells are completely absent in type 1 diabetes patients. If these cells can be reactivated the patient could be cured, even as long as 10 years after the original diagnosis was made."

Dormant, Eh? Our poor Beta cells, hunkered down, caught behind enemy lines, waiting for help. Current Type 1 diabetes establishment practice has written them off. Is it the marines that say, “No man left behind”? I KNEW mine were alive! Even in the scary times at diagnosis, scattered in among the morning fasting blood sugar readings over 300 were days in the 120s. The Betas were managing to get a signal through saying, “We’re here! Don’t know when we can get another shipment out…need air support…” Because if they were all or mostly dead, it would have been impossible to lower my blood sugar on any day, without insulin.

This is the crux of this so-called “fringe” message of mine. I just could never get past the question I asked originally—if ANY Betas are functioning, why not give them a chance? Of course, if you follow my experiment, you know I’m adding a little twist to what Professor Roep has found. He’s going to look now for something vaccine-like to “reactivate” beta cells. I’m reading the resurgence of my Betas as proof of the success of my diet and stressmodification. My sustained air campaign in support of the Betas has knocked out the T1 mortars, cutting their supply lines for alcohol, saturated fat, and other toxins.

The Accidental Advocate

photo by RoadsideGuitars

It’s been a year. Some days I feel like a 5 watt radio station with a broadcast range of half a block. At least a third of my regular audience is friends and family. So why bother? Why not let the scores of articulate, passionate celebrity-level advocates in the Diabetes Online Community (DOC) handle this soapbox? Some of these folks are followed by thousands. They are involved at every level from grassroots events to international forums. Why would I think I could ever help at that level?

I don’t. I’m here for two reasons-- besides the fact that we need as many voices as possible as this epidemic washes over us, I’m simply compelled. I would so much rather research and write about sailing, mobile tech, or astrophysics. But no, I was assigned this topic by the universe and lo and behold, my research led me off the beaten path. I was just looking for a way to buy time until some pump or transplant that I thought I could stomach was developed.

But now it looks like my blend of a few western and eastern medicine components may have fixed my pancreas. I know that the timeline for LADA diabetics means it won’t be confirmed for years. Even then, my case will just be anecdotal. But I can’t just sit on the possibility that the answer I’ve found to the different question I asked is right. We still need all the vast power and persuasive support of the DOC. Even if the battery-powered devices and insulin are not required, diabetics still need the compassion and encouragement that seasoned advocates provide, to be able to re-design their lives.

In all things social media, audience-reach and interaction is key. Unfortunately, just knowing this doesn’t make one well suited for it. Even if I wanted to, I can’t bypass the community of diabetes patient advocates. They are the curators of the vast and muddied stream of information about diabetes. They are rock stars because they have consistently, over years, listened, opined, and connected the hordes of existing and newly diagnosed. I’m a communicator, but not at that level. I’m too arrogant and crusty to dole out the quantity of hugs required for the mission.

So I have to resist my anti-social tendencies and reach out. It’s a lot to ask these advocates to include even the mere possibility of the success of my approach in their dialog. I’m sure I appear like some sort of diabetic Ron Paul out there that’s just cluttering up the airwaves. My admittedly dramatic headlines are annoying enough that at least one well-known diabetes blogger has blocked my tweets. That’s OK. The occasional controversial shout-out has more volume than a murmured amen. 

Terrorist Plot Targeting Gullible Type 2 Diabetics!

logo to make a point, not real!

What else could it be?  Assume for a minute that al-Queda or the Iranians wanted to round out their attack portfolio by planting a time bomb in the economy. They study our weak spots and come up with a plan to deliver a triple punch. They figure they can explode America’s debt, monkey wrench the healthcare system, and create millions of new drug users all in one fell swoop. They realize that corporate greed and the typical gullible American will do most of the work for them. They can even enrich their own terrorist treasure chest as a byproduct of their nefarious plan if they buy some stock in the companies selling insulin and insulin-delivery devices.

The core of the plan is to exploit the epidemic of Type 2 Diabetes by influencing the research and corporate propaganda that encourages the unnecessary use of insulin. They know that 98% of Type 2’s can be healthy or cured through diet and lifestyle changes. But western medicine and money are so tangled that keeping facts buried is easy. The terrorists know that the typical lazy-ass American will agree if told, “there’s no need to get up off the couch, and you certainly don’t have to give up your chips and beer. Just inject yourself with this nifty little needle-pen every few hours. Way better, huh? What the heck, insurance will pay!“

What a scheme. Millions of new, voluntary drug users spending billions of dollars siphoned out of the real economy into the hands of a few. Millions of fatter, weaker, dependent, less productive Americans will certainly sabotage the vitality and innovation that’s always kept the country strong.

It must be terrorists doing this, right? There’s no way we’d do this to ourselves, is there?

Agenda For a Healthy Day - Winter Version

click image to see larger version

Here’s an example of putting it all together. How to live a day that’s part of a sustainable life. It details the lean diet, regular activity, and low-stress environment that’s brought my mind and body to the best state ever. Something about this routine even reversed an autoimmune disease. But don’t wait for that excuse. This isn’t that extreme. It’s my recipe, you’ll have to tweak. If you can’t work from home, for example, you’ll have to figure out how to make it work. As long as your work isn’t a stressor. If it is, you’ll have to fix that too.

Pitchman

Perhaps it would make more sense to speak exclusively to the diabetes population. Several hundred million is a sizeable audience to focus on. Type 1 and 2 diabetics are theoretically more motivated to hear about a “cure”. They have more obviously immediate benefit (like not dying young or losing a limb). I’m showing diabetics a stark choice between a punctured, tethered, fretful life and one that’s an upgrade from the pre-diabetes self.

But on the quality of life scale, you have the typical diabetic at the low end, a regular, healthy, normal person up a few ticks to the right, and then this upgraded body I’m touting, far up out of sight on the wouldn’t-have-dreamed-possible side. I’m finding it extremely difficult not to attempt to communicate this discovery to normal, non-diabetics too. It’s a much harder sell. As I’ve stated before, I thought I was superman before diabetes. I was strong, healthy, felt great. I would have scoffed if told that what I thought was strong, healthy, and feeling great was a long way from the best possible. Sounds obvious, but the fact that it seems  less immediate if your life’s not threatened now makes all the difference. For normal folks there are so many days from now until death that the craved caramel latte right now seems insignificant as a contribution toward death. Tomorrow is soon enough to start. And how could giving up these little sins-that-make-life-bearable outweigh some dubious gain in wellness?

Such understandable human resistance to holistic claims coupled with the more sinister moneyed  interests’ propaganda will probably make this a back page story for years to come. Maybe longer if a few of us pitchmen weren't starting now. And too much is riding on this. A while back I labeled myself a canary in the cold mine. Anyone who really believes he sees where we we're headed, and doesn't try to warn, isn't serving his community.