5 ms·
That's an interesting article, for sure. It also applies to what I've been diagnosed with as well. Type 2 diabetes. I'm applying data science to this disease.
by kefka 11y ago
That's an interesting article, for sure. It also applies to what I've been diagnosed with as well. Type 2 diabetes.
I'm applying data science to this disease. It's what I do, and can afford. Unfortunately, my doctor thinks that pushing pills is an adequate response, which I heartily doubt.
The more I understand this disease, it has to do with either: pancreas is dead (type 1), or your glucose response/insulin response is badly out of whack due to a metabolic carbohydrate problem (type 1.5/2). I was diagnosed with a fasting glucose of 161 and a1c of 7.1 . Met with doctor, and talked about it shortly. Was prescribed metformin and testing kit with 100 strips. I am currently not taking any drugs.
I keep reading that the problem is carbohydrate overload to my genetics. Can I validate or invalidate that? Indeed. I was told to test blood sugar 1x a day for 3 months. That's inadequate, as it's only an instantaneous sample. What about after I eat? What about when I go to bed and wake up? Can I deduce anything about my pancreas and its slow and fast response to glucose? Indeed.
I've started testing myself 4x every meal(1 before meal, 3 half hour increments after meal ends), and 1 when I wake up and go to bed. Turns out that yes, carbs has, in my body a direct correlation to my blood sugar. And it's pretty stark.
Now, if my hypothesis is correct, I can control my blood sugar purely with carb counting and eating to the glycometer. If after 2 weeks this does not show significant changes in my basal glucose rate, as well as weight losses, then I will go on drugs.
However, I already have 2 good side effects: I'm not craving for food any longer, and I no longer overheat. I'm not sure how to classify those effects, but not being slave to extremely annoying bodily issues does seem very beneficent.
- fasteo 11y agoMind sharing your readings ?
- kefka 11y agoSure. You'll need LibreOffice. there's not many readings thus yet. However, given some of my previous symptoms (thirst, extreme hunger, overheating) along with family history, a basic test was done. a1c=7.1 and initial fasting glucose = 161mg/dL I'm approaching this aggressively, as I'm not sure exactly how many medical symptoms were caused/still caused by this, including mental fog during programming. https://mega.nz/#!oxEkGATQ!n78-fzrCFy_wv6HPIqyFIozzgpPvLeIiRxw6faSUSO4 https://mega.nz/#!oxEkGATQ!n78-fzrCFy_wv6HPIqyFIozzgpPvLeIiR...
- radicalbyte 11y agoAre you overweight? I am, and recently tested a1c @ 6.1. That's not Type-2, but it's dangerzone. I'm dieting now, I'm going to re-test each time I drop 5kg to see if it helps. see: http://www.gizmag.com/one-gram-pancreas-fat-reverse-type-2-diabetes/40801/ http://www.gizmag.com/one-gram-pancreas-fat-reverse-type-2-d...
- kefka 11y agoI am. The weights are also in the data. Initially at the doctor's, I was 320. And that was 2 weeks ago. Now I'm at 314. And also, watch out about the a1c. They are not reliable readings to use in diagnosis. Studies from last year show a very skewed weighted average from the last 3 months that generate the a1c. Also, if you have any sort of hemoglobin-modifying illness (sickle cell, others), a1c is completely inaccurate. 140mg/dL is scientifically known to kill nerve cells. Every minute above this kills stuff. The ideal healthy human's response is between 85-100mg/dL. A resting rate away from this shows dysfunction. However, an OGTT shows if you have problems. You take a reading prior to drinking 75g glucose. One big drink. Then you test every 30 minutes until you're back to normal, which is usually 2-2.5 hours. A doc won't say it, but every minute over 140 causes cell death, and most likely lower. For example, this is what 12 carbs did to me: 18:20 12/09/2015 test 143 18:35 12/09/2015 eat 15m 19:15 12/09/2015 test 182 19:30 12/09/2015 test 172 19:45 12/09/2015 test 168 20:00 12/09/2015 test 150 20:15 12/09/2015 test 144 20:30 12/09/2015 test 123
- radicalbyte 11y agoInteresting, I always assume some variance. Following the advice of my wife (a pharmacist!), I've been on a restricted calorie diet (1300kcal) for 10 days and it seems to have worked. My resting a1c is 4.3. I can recommend trying it - although it's not easy. The first 5 days are horrible. I only managed it because I had a stomach virus (so wasn't eating). Pills are expensive and it's crazy to be stuck on them if you can control your glucose with diet.
- stevenkovar 11y agoIt may be worth looking into how different forms of exercise may affect insulin sensitivity; additionally, fasting (as well as the two combined).
- scholia 11y agoAre you able to watch this BBC TV program? (I hope it's the right one: my wife suggested it.) http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b06rdtx0/doctor-in-the-house-episode-3 http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b06rdtx0/doctor-in-the-...
- kefka 11y agoI'm not able to watch it. Is it this per chance? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFfkdKfpgFw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFfkdKfpgFw
- scholia 11y agoNo, completely different ;-) Episode that impressed my wife basically showed a women stop having diabetes 2 a few weeks after being put on a no-carb (well, no sugar and no high-glycemic carbs, but meat, fruit and veg) diet.
- shanusmagnus 11y agoCongrats on your approach to managing your condition. Couple of things to think about. First, you may find a continuous glucose monitor helpful to get a more granular view of what's going on. Dexcom [1] makes the most popular one, which is also hackable [2]. Second, keep in mind that all carb avoidance isn't equal. If you up your protein a lot, you could still get postprandial glucose spikes due to gluconeogenesis from protein breakdown. A good low-carb diet for you will be a low-carb, high-fat diet. Third, for extra bang for your buck, go for a walk after you eat. The CGM, if you get one, will verify the efficacy of that. Fourth, look into high-intensity exercise, which will help combat your insulin resistance. All exercise is not the same. Weight training is particularly good. Your MD's reaction is sadly typical. You're taking the right approach by taking matters into your own hands, using her as a backup. [1] http://www.dexcom.com/dexcom-g4-platinum-share http://www.dexcom.com/dexcom-g4-platinum-share [2] http://www.nightscout.info http://www.nightscout.info
- kefka 11y agoThank you. I've looked at the Dexcom unit. I would like to run with it for 2-3 needles (20-30 days) to get accurate data on things I surmise are good, but yet cannot prove. I've also worked on guessing the score before I test. Interestingly enough, after about 2 days with the meter, I within +-2 points. That really surprised me. And a very good point about the exercise after I eat. I have been doing that in the evening, not always after I eat. I'm going to believe you without proof, only because my body knows I need the exercise. I've also heard that HIIT is also great (meter backed results). If I do worsen, I do have the metformin I can fall back on. I'd rather not make that the first response if diet shows more effect.
- amlgsmsn 11y agoHere's an interesting study that found that different people have different blood glucose reponses to the same foods. http://news.meta.com/2015/11/19/cell-nutrition-is-personal-identical-foods-produce-healthy-and-unhealthy-responses-in-different-individuals/ http://news.meta.com/2015/11/19/cell-nutrition-is-personal-i... >Participant A maintained a stable blood glucose level after eating a cookie but responded with elevated glucose levels after eating a banana. Conversely, participant B experienced an increase in blood glucose level after eating a cookie, but not after consuming a banana. >In another striking example one of the participants, a middle-aged woman who was obese and pre diabetic learned that her “healthy” eating habits may have actually been unhealthy for her. The researchers found that in her case, eating tomatoes resulted in an “unhealthy” blood sugar spike, as the woman ate tomatoes frequently over the course of the week long monitoring period, this “healthy” habit may have been undermining her health.
- montecarl 11y agoI like your scientific approach. It would be awesome to have continuous monitoring of blood sugar, heart rate, body temperature, blood pressure, and other vital signs. From what I have read, early type 2 diabetes can be completely controlled via diet changes as you have already started to see. The amount of insulin your body needs to make is by far the largest for carbohydrates, then somewhat less for protein, and then near zero form fat. I liked this talked which summed up the argument for treating diabetes (type II at least) with diet and not drugs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=da1vvigy5tQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=da1vvigy5tQ
- ilurk 11y agoDid you notice any differences depending on the carbs? White rice, brown rice, sweet potatoes. And what about accompanying seasoning? Olive oil, coconut oil, fatty meat/fish.
- mrfusion 11y agoThis is awesome. What are the most informative times to test after you eat? My fasting glucose was 99 so I'm not sure what to make of that. I ordered a glucose monitor just to learn how different foods affect me.
- pixelglow 11y agoI've been a Type 2 diabetic officially for 18 years but impaired glucose tolerance for longer. You're on the right path, there's a lot you can do to slow down the progress of the disease. I'm not a doctor however so take any advice with a grain of salt. (But not sugar, definitely not that.) > I keep reading that the problem is carbohydrate overload to my genetics. Read up on "glycemic index". This index tells you how close your food is to pure glucose e.g. table sugar has a glycemic index of 68 so it has 68% of the insulin response of pure glucose. The index correlates to the type of carbohydrate and how processed it is, although there are some surprises e.g. premium ice cream has a G.I. of 37. http://www.glycemicindex.com/index.php http://www.glycemicindex.com/index.php You don't have to commit the entire index to memory. Usually you can come up with several heuristics e.g. tropical fruit tends to have higher G.I. than temperate fruit. Obviously you should test this with your own blood sugar readings as individual response to a carbohydrate challenge can be quite different. The other components to a meal also affect blood sugar. For example, acid, protein and fat tend to slow down digestion and thus blood sugar spiking. If you must take pasta for example, take it with a tomato-based sauce (acidic) rather than cream-based. YMMV. > Unfortunately, my doctor thinks that pushing pills is an adequate response, which I heartily doubt. It's important, although somewhat depressing, to see this disease as a progression. A progression that you have to slow down as much as possible, but still a progression. Know that in the future, you may have to resort to the first line of pills, and then possibly stronger ones. Try to slow down the progression as much as possible, and research the pills to see their efficacy and benefit. Metformin is usually the first line of defence and it has a long history and little side effect. It generally fools your body into thinking it's in starvation mode, which means you can lose weight, both fat and muscle. It actually lowers insulin resistance rather than increasing insulin. Generally in amounts >1g it gives you loose bowels, so when you have to use it keep on low doses as long as possible. When metformin doesn't work as well, generally you'll get prescribed sulfonylureas. Since they increase insulin secretion, they tend to exacerbate your insulin resistance. There is some inconclusive research that they burn out the pancreatic beta cells. Better to avoid these as long as possible, but if your glucose control is bad you may not have a choice. I'm currently on an incretin enhancer (gliptin) + metformin. Also look up supplements on examine.com. It's hard to tell the effectiveness of supplements, the only one that had a distinct effect on me was berberine. The other thing you can do is exercise. Lots of it. Strength training for more muscle and more insulin receptors. Aerobic exercise to burn/absorb more glucose and lose weight. There's even recent evidence that high-intensity interval training improves diabetic markers more than sustained, low-intensity exercise.
- SergeyHack 11y agoI've heard a number of times that proper water fasting can heal diabetes. P.S. Absolute fasting can be dangerous.