Post on 10-Mar-2016
description
Kiss Goodbye to Diabetes Chapter 1 2
CHAPTER 1 Catastrophic Impact of Diabetes
&
Our Broken Healthcare System
Diabetes is becoming the number one heath challenge for the
westernized world and is fast spreading worldwide as other nations
adopt the western, animal based, highly processed calorie dense diet. It
is a primary driver of the US healthcare crisis. The Lancet, the leading
British medical Journal, is only one of the many medical and health
authorities worldwide characterizing the rapid increase in diabetes as a
pandemic. In the US diabetes has increased an astounding 170% in the
last decade alone. Its effects are incalculable in scope and catastrophic
in magnitude. The economic burden is staggering, but is nothing
compared with human suffering, disability and premature death that
come in the wake of this Tsunami of destruction.
A physician or home test can tell someone whether they are or that they
are not pregnant. One cannot be “kind of pregnant”. But with diabetes-
II, the distinction between being diabetic and not being diabetic is not so
obvious. When we are talking about this disease, the medical
Kiss Goodbye to Diabetes Chapter 1 3
community has had to set somewhat arbitrary numbers to distinguish
between “non-diabetics”, “pre-
diabetics” and full-blown
“diabetics”. The truth of the
matter is that all of us who for
some time have continued
consuming the standard
American diet (SAD) are
either becoming “kind of
diabetic” or have already slid
down toward the bottom of the diabetes pit. Effect follows cause and
because of our “rich” diets we are reaping poor health.
A few statistics from the American Center for Disease Control (CDC)
and other respected sources will suffice to give a telling glimpse of the
scale of this wave of devastation. Here is a sample of the numbers.
Almost half of all Americans 20 years of age or older are now either
diabetic or pre-diabetic!
That is - 11.3% of the
population diabetic and
35% pre-diabetic. That
makes the diabetic
population in this nation
Kiss Goodbye to Diabetes Chapter 1 4
more numerous than the combined residents of its top ten most populous
cities combined! It is astounding to realize that Almost 27% of all
Americans over 65
years of age are
diabetic! What’s
more, a full 50% of
this age group are pre–
diabetic! That leaves
only a small minority
of 23.1% of this
population unaffected
by the continuum of
blood glucose disorder. Let me illustrate the magnitude of this
destructive force. In the US the number of deaths in which diabetes was
a contributing factor in the last decade was twice the number of
Americans killed in all its wars since 1775. That is like a crash of a fully
loaded Jumbo Jet with no
survivors every day of the year,
every year! That is like having a
terrorist attack as deadly as 911,
not just in one day, but every
day of every summer, every
single year. If it were a radical
Kiss Goodbye to Diabetes Chapter 1 5
fundamentalist Muslim organization behind this kind of carnage, we
would call it an “attack on America”, an “act of war!” But since it is
perpetrated though such agents as a friendly clown in a yellow suit, we
just call it a Big Mac attack and cleaver advertising!
There are 1.9 million new cases of Diabetes diagnosed every year; that is
as if the entire population of the cities of Washington DC, Milwaukee,
Wisconsin and Seattle, Washington were to slide into this pit of disease
every year.
Diabetes is a major contributor to heart attack, stroke, kidney failure,
blindness and non-traumatic lower extremity amputations. Diabetes is
also linked to increase risk of cancer, erectile dysfunction (ED),
dementia, disability and pre-mature death.
If you a not yet
diabetic you may be
interested to learn
how your weight can
affect your risk. You
may also be curious
as to the risk of your
loved ones. Use the
chart on this page to
Kiss Goodbye to Diabetes Chapter 1 6
see how weight and height correlate to risk of diabetes. If you are a
woman of average height (5 foot 4 inches) and weigh more than 175
pounds, you classed at a level of obesity which at a 7 out of 10 chance of
succumbing to diabetes. A man of average height (5 foot 10 inches) need
only be 209 pounds or more to join 70% risk category!
Here are a few more facts about the complications of this disease to
enhance you motivation to avoid or escape this devastating disease.
Heart disease and stroke
• In 2004, heart disease was noted on 68% of diabetes-related death
certificates among people aged 65 years or older.
• In 2004, stroke was noted on 16% of diabetes-related death
certificates among people aged 65 years or older.
• The risk for stroke is 2 to 4 times higher among people with
diabetes.
High blood pressure
• In 2005-2008, of adults aged 20 years or older with self-reported
diabetes, 67% had blood pressure greater than or equal to 140/90
mmHg or used prescription medications for hypertension.
Blindness
Kiss Goodbye to Diabetes Chapter 1 7
• Diabetes is the leading cause of new cases of blindness among
adults aged 20–74 years.
• In 2005-2008, 4.2 million (28.5%) people with diabetes aged 40
years or older had diabetic retinopathy, and of these, almost 0.7
million (4.4% of those with diabetes) had advanced diabetic
retinopathy that could lead to severe vision loss.
Kidney disease
• Diabetes is the leading cause of kidney failure, accounting for 44%
of new cases in 2008.
• In 2008, 48,374 people
with diabetes began
treatment for end-stage
kidney disease in the
United States.
• In 2008, a total of 202,290
people with end-stage
kidney disease due to
diabetes were living on chronic dialysis or with a kidney transplant
in the United States.
Nervous system disease (Neuropathy)
Kiss Goodbye to Diabetes Chapter 1 8
• About 60% to 70% of people with diabetes have mild to severe
forms of nervous system damage.
Amputation
• More than 60% of non-traumatic lower-limb amputations occur in
people with diabetes.
• In 2006, about 65,700
non-traumatic lower-
limb amputations were
performed in people
with diabetes.
• Between 45 and 83
percent of diabetics will
have an amputation due
to diabetes-related complications in their lifetime.
Cost of Diabetes: 174 billion: Total costs of diagnosed diabetes in 2007
• $116 billion for direct medical costs
• $58 billion for indirect costs (disability, work loss, premature
mortality)
• Factoring in the additional costs of undiagnosed diabetes & pre-
diabetes, brings total to in 2007 to $218 billion.
Kiss Goodbye to Diabetes Chapter 1 9
The increase in diabetes incidence is due to the rapid increase in type II
diabetes (DM-II) which accounts for about 95% of all cases. The other
primary type is generally referred to as type I diabetes (DM-1). It is a
completely different disease and has a whole set of different causes.
Type I is the result of the destruction of the pancreatic cells that produce
insulin and is therefore irreversible. Fortunately diabetes type II is
reversible. This is the disease that this book will address.
Type II is associated with excess abdominal fat. It results from the
bodies resistance to insulin combined with the “fatigue” of the
pancreatic cells which leads to a decreased production of insulin. When
these two metabolic disorders are combined, clinical diabetes is
inevitable. This type of diabetes has been described as a “lifestyle
disease”. It has only one cause. It results from poor lifestyle choices-
primarily wrong eating habits. So much for the bad news, let’s talk
about the good news. The good news is that this kind of diabetes is
completely preventable and totally reversible and if appropriate
measures are taken all of these complications and catastrophic
conditions can be avoided.
So why is this good news about DM-2 not being shouted from every
rooftop and universally disseminated in every clinic, doctor’s office,
health advocacy group and governmental agency? The short answer:
We have a broken healthcare system! One might even question whether
Kiss Goodbye to Diabetes Chapter 1 10
it even deserves the title. As it is structured, it may more accurately be
described rather as a “disease care system”! And therein lies the
problem. The money is not directed to wellness and maintenance of
health, but to the treatment and management of disease. Though, there
have been some nominal attempts at reform in the creation of such
entities as so-called “health maintenance organizations”, even at the
heart of such institutions, there yet remains the traditional medical model
with its blinders keeping drug-treatment and surgical procedures as the
almost exclusive means for the treatment and management of disease.
The medical profession has precious little monetary incentive to change.
Every charge for which a doctor or healthcare institution bills, must have
a billing code; And there are no billing codes for mentoring people to
make successful lifestyle changes in order to prevent or recover from
disease.
A billing code for a bypass surgery may gross $50,000-100,000, while,
Teaching someone on the principles of a healthful diet, how to menu
plan, grocery shop and prepare delicious and healthful meals nets $0.
Rather than focusing on removing the cause of the disease the focus is
almost exclusively on treating the symptoms and merely “managing” the
disease. If you are anything like me, I am sure you would be much more
interested in learning what is causing your illness so that you can
remove the cause and permanently get rid of your disease.
Kiss Goodbye to Diabetes Chapter 1 11
The experience told by lifestyle physician, John A. McDougall, MD
gives us a revealing insight. . McDougall tells of his work at a hospital
and healthcare center were he was employed at the attached wellness
/lifestyle center. It seemed like the perfect setting. The medical center
could refer appropriate and motivated patients from the hospital to him
to help them reverse their coronary artery disease. The physicians at the
hospital knew that the lifestyle program worked, but it turns out that they
were not referring any of their cases, that is, except their loved ones and
themselves. Why? If, they referred their patients to the lifestyle center
in place of recommending bypass surgery, they would loose the $50,000
revenue the procedure would bring in!
If such practices and institutionalized conflict of interests were found in
any other field of service, there would be such public outrage and cry for
reform that a grand jury would be tasked and Senate hearings would
immediately ensue. The deafening silence regarding the simple, reliable
remedy for diabetes II would be totally unconscionable if it were not for
wide spread gross ignorance on this subject. But even then their remains
a colossal load of guilt on the part of the largest players in the industrial
medical complex, for the ignorance is often not only willful but also
cultivated, promoted by premeditated promulgation of disinformation
and corrupt suppression of the truth.
Kiss Goodbye to Diabetes Chapter 1 12
No, I don’t see it all as a grand conspiracy perpetrated by some well-
coordinated sinister organization to keep us sick. But, I do see it as a
trap that we have set for ourselves, and one that is fueled by vested
interest, tradition and excessive self-esteem. I have a hard time putting
the blame on those health care workers and professionals who find
themselves in this dilemma. I work in this field myself. I work as an
occupational therapy practitioner in a care center and am well paid for
helping people recover their functional status after a catastrophic event
such as a lower extremity amputation, heart attack, or stroke. It is much
more lucrative to spend my days picking up the pieces and helping Mary
or John try to get their lives back together than to teach a cooking
seminar or conduct a healthy lifestyle course. In my off-hours, my wife
and I do make time to do these things; however, we do not make any
profit in doing so. I conduct wellness retreats at my home in the
mountains and only ask that my guest contribute to pay for their share of
the grocery bill. Maybe one day I will be able to suggest a donation, not
in remuneration for my services, but to pay the expenses of the next
guest, allowing for a sustainable effort. Or, maybe eventually, we would
be able to give full time to our work; if our guests were encouraged to
contribute 20% of what they would have paid for the medications their
doctors take them off when they no longer need them. Though coaching
people in healthful living would accomplish an inestimably greater
amount of good in preventing and relieving suffering, debility and
Kiss Goodbye to Diabetes Chapter 1 13
disease, sadly, it is not valued as such in our current system. The blame,
however, cannot be placed entirely on the medical profession. How
often do health professional who seek to encourage better habits
disappointed by a patient who demands that the doctor fix the problem,
while refusing to deny their appetites and addictions? And what about
the food manufactures and fast food services that make their profits
urging greater consumption of high fat and sugary foods. But, this book
is not about placing blame; it’s all about getting rid of your number one
health problem, diabetes! Our aim is to see to it that you gain the
resources you need to replace your current “diabetes-friendly” lifestyle
with one that will make this unwelcome guest leave and never come
back!
This book is about how to enjoy an abundant satisfying diet of the best
that God has provided for our health and pleasure. We will share with
you a diet lifestyle that will be sustainable, practical and easy to
understand. There will be no math, no exchange system, no point
system, no calorie counting and no portion size restrictions. You will
eat to you fill of delicious food that will provide you with sustained,
accessible energy, not stored fat.
Are you ready to cast off the burden of diabetic fears and embark on an
adventure to health? If so, join me as we celebrate the journey.