The accepted knowledge is that Diabetes destroys gradually over years. Ketosis Prone Type 2 diabetes is an acute form of type 2. This type 2 can reach fasting blood sugars of 300 or higher in months. This blog brings together all the documentation that I could find in the world and my speculation of what it means for KPD’s in specific and diabetics in general. I ask you to leave your stories about what happened to you so that we can all gain a better understanding of what we are dealing with.

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Weaning Type 1’s from insulin

This seems to be a burning topic that I thought I’d answered in my previous post but because of Halle Berry  and YouTube videos like “Raw for thirty days”,  I must revisit the topic.
What does it mean to “wean” anybody from insulin? It means to withdraw it from their system, take it away from them. People, none of us can live without insulin! The body isn’t accepting any substitutes, either. Those who have been “weaned” from taking insulin obviously have working beta cells which produce insulin. If they did not, it would probably be over pretty quickly.
The claim for this “weaning” then is based on the reanimation of dead beta cells through various techniques. Now what makes this plausible are the testimonies of many individuals who were diagnosed as T1 and then found themselves able, through the use of (name your technique), to become insulin independent. These people are adamant. They were DKA, might have even gone into a coma. They were thoroughly dependent upon insulin injections, for maybe years and now they don’t need it.
Unlike some, I’m not going to call them liars, I will even vouch for their experience but I want to examine this rationally.
The very first thing to note is that they were diagnosed and told they were T1 because of severe hypoglycemia, DKA, weight loss and maybe or maybe not the presence of antibodies. They were given the ADA diet of 200 to 300 grams of carbs a day, with most of the carbs coming from healthy grains and stuff like that.
They believed the diagnosis, as anyone would, but they, just like most of us experimented with their situations. The major thing that they all found was “Bernsteins’ law of small numbers”. If carbs are reduced then the insulin adjustment can be reduced as well. This simply means a change in diet.  If the carbs are going down something else must be replacing them. If you now throw in some sort of physical regimen then you’ve got something going. This is a type of “weaning” but reducing the insulin need isn’t the same as producing insulin. How does that happen? It doesn’t. You either have it or you don’t. But a person might object saying that they didn’t produce hardly any insulin before and now they don’t need it and this has gone on longer than any honeymoon on record.
The key to this is diagnosis. At the point of diagnosis, they were given the T1 designation, because there isn’t another. What if there were? Well, there is, the problem is there is no way to distinguish a T1 from a Ketosis Prone T2 Diabetic at diagnosis. It is only after months and with a c-peptide test can they be told apart. This is because, for whatever reason, a KP T2 can regenerate their beta cells once glucose levels return to normal even in the face of testing positive for antibodies.
The other key is the ADA diet. This diet is high in carbohydrates and KPD’s have  a 20% higher deficiency G6PD then even regular T2 diabetics. This is a significant disadvantage in handling carbs. High carb intake will keep them from regenerating beta cells and they will effectively stay T1. A KPD T2 is the only known diabetic that can go from a T1 status (no beta cell functioning, no insulin) to a T2 status.
Anytime there is a claim of “weaning “ a T1 from insulin, it should be viewed in this light. A person who makes that claim must know of KPD T2 and must demonstrate that the T1 they have “cured” is not, in fact, a KPD T2. Guess what, they can’t because there is no real test but time 

3 comments:

  1. Hi, I'd like to ask you some questions. Please email me at sysymorales@thegirlsguidetodiabetes.com

    I'm a type 1 diabetic trying to learn more about this different type of diabetes.

    Regards,
    Sysy

    ReplyDelete
  2. Just wanted to tell you that every time I read a sneering comment on Halle Berry in TuDiabetes and other places, I respond with a short explanation of KPT2. I knew about it before I found your blog, but I am really happy you are blogging about it, especially for the sake of the black community, but also for Asians and others who may develop it.

    You're doing a good job!

    Natalie ._c-

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks for the nice blog. It was very useful for me. I'm happy I found this blog. Thank you for sharing with us,I too always learn something new from your post. diabetes

    ReplyDelete

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