Dieoff starting in Illinois?

[Snail]

"studies have shown that a vegan diet may be effective in managing type 2 diabetes" (Wikipedia).

ANY ultra low calorie diet can help reverse the symptoms of type2 diabetes.

Something about the amount of fat around the pancreas? Biology is a bit of a closed book

The local news ran a story a while back about a medical trial which proved that newly diagnosed diabetics could be cured if they went on a starvation diet (700 calories per day) for 8-9 weeks. The people involved were able to function normally apart from feeling a little tired. Doesn't help her maybe, but if i was newly diagnosed this is what i'd do.

[emordnilap]

I have a friend who has a fortnight's fast every once in a while, just water.

Anyway, that's fascinating Snail. Cured? Completely? Sounds brilliant. And again, referring back up the thread, there is a lot of such useful info. out there and helpful people if you look.

[Snail]

Here's the details and link:

Low-cal diabetes cure
8.11AM Fri Jun 24 2011

A low calorie diet can reverse Type 2 diabetes in newly diagnosed patients.

New research from a team at Newcasstle University claims restricting calorie intake to 600 a day could prompt the body to produce its own insulin.

The trial included 11 people with the illness followed a diet of liquid drinks and non-starchy vegetables and after just one week, their blood sugar levels had returned to normal.

Professor Roy Taylor of Newcastle University who led the study, said the "remarkable" findings showed an eight-week diet could prompt the body to produce its own insulin.

The condition affects almost 3.5 million people in the UK.

The findings are consistent with the belief that a lack of insulin secretion, which is vital for blood sugar control, is due to accumulation of fat in the liver and pancreas.

Professor Taylor said: "For many years, it has been assumed that Type 2 diabetes is a life sentence. However, we have been able to show that it is in fact reversible.

http://www.itv.com/news/low-cal-diabetes-cure23665/

[biffvernon]

http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Diabetes-t ... ction.aspx

Pity there is no www.nhs.uk in USA.

[UndercoverElephant]

Living more healthy lives than most 62-year-old Americans have lived is not very difficult and would obviously lead to fewer health problems (although I'm yet to be convinced that Veganism is healthy). More to the point though, living more healthily now isn't going to help this lady very much. It's too late for her. Unless she wins the lottery, her future doesn't look good.

So you'd really commit suicide rather than try a plant-based diet for a bit? You wouldn't have anything to lose and you'd save a fortune just at the supermarket. The video didn't really say what illnesses she had apart from diabetes and "studies have shown that a vegan diet may be effective in managing type 2 diabetes" (Wikipedia).

I don't know enough about her specific illnesses to intelligently answer this question. I think she is just an example of the sort of situation a lot of people are going to find themselves in. Maybe in some cases a change of diet would make a big difference. Certainly in other cases it wouldn't.

[vtsnowedin]

From a genetic point of view her life is already a success as her children are grown and gone. Whatever happens between now and her death will not change that.
It comes down to how many good days she has left and what strategies give more good days then others. Certainly if you can't afford the pills but can afford the diet then that is the course you will take and make the best of it you can. And if the demand for thousand dollar a month pills goes way down then perhaps the drug companies will have to drop the price to what people can bear out of pocket.
In any event we will be no worse off then people were before 1940 before any of these thousand dollar a month pill regimens were invented.

[Ludwig]

http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Diabetes-t ... ction.aspx

Pity there is no www.nhs.uk in USA.

Won't be one in the UK either 2 years from now.

[DominicJ]

newly diagnosed diabetics

Does that mean, people who havent had diabetes for long, or people who havent taken diabetes medication?

[vtsnowedin]

newly diagnosed diabetics

Does that mean, people who havent had diabetes for long, or people who havent taken diabetes medication?

My guess would be that they mean patients that have not had high blood glucose levels long enough to accumulate a lot of organ and blood vessel damage. That would be more important then what medications have been tried.

[clv101]

Seeing all the medications that lady was on, I can't help thinking we're doing it wrong! It just seems too complex, the unintended aggregate consequence of screwed up health care system (The NHS isn't much better, I'm not singling out the US). The first problem is the pharmacological complexity the second is the cost. Thousands of dollars for pills simply isn't sustainable.

When I hear of people taking such cocktails of drugs daily, my uninformed view is that there must be a simpler (cheaper) way.

[DominicJ]

Clv
There is
But in the US, the insurer pays for drugs, and in the UK, the NHS pays for drugs.

The alternative is a government funded patient topped up savings system and the patient pays for care they want out of that.
Control throught diet would be everyones first choice if they had to pay for the treatment. But dieting costs money and treatment is "free", so Big Macs and Beer and damn the consequences, someone else picks up the tab.

[Lord Beria3]

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2011/aug20 ... -a25.shtml

The primary food bank serving eastern and central Kentucky has reported a staggering level of hunger and emergency food requests. As need rises, federal funding for emergency food assistance programs is being targeted for deep cuts or outright elimination.

God’s Pantry Food Bank, headquartered in Lexington, recently released findings of a survey conducted in the metro-area’s Fayette County. More than 450 clients visiting the six pantry locations in the county were interviewed March 21-23.

The survey collected data on Fayette County emergency food box recipients. Those who qualify for services receive four packages of meat, 12 cans of vegetables, fruit and soup, eight units of pasta, rice, cereal and other staple food items. Recipients say their food box lasts an average of 11 days.

The food bank serves 50 counties in Kentucky, helping approximately 211,000 people a year. In Fayette County alone, 161,000 pounds of food are needed each month to stock the five pantries servicing the area.

Statistics on the average yearly and monthly household income for clients give a sense of the deep social crisis gripping the state. Food recipients subsist on a yearly household income averaging $8,760. From month to month, families must survive on an income averaging only $730.

I foresee social unrest in America soon, once unemployment benefits are ended and people start starving...