There was a rather startling admission about the treatment of older people with Type II diabetes at the annual meeting of the Endocrine Society. Committee chair Derek LeRoith, M.D., Ph.D., with the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, said, “for many decades and many years, we have not really paid attention to the older individual with diabetes because they were considered to have a limited lifespan.”
THUD.
After picking myself up off the floor, it occurred to me that the Endocrine Society had been de facto practicing “death panels”—at least when it came to older adults with Type II diabetes. Which, sadly, isn’t too surprising. Researchers have been purposefully excluding older adults for decades from important research to boost their results.
So it’s safe to say that these endocrinologists won’t be winning any awards for empathy. And we can add older people with Type II diabetes to the long list of populations ignored by mainstream medicine.
But it makes me wonder…
If they weren’t paying attention to all the older adults with diabetes for all these years, then what exactly have all these endocrinologists been paying attention to?!
Type II diabetes reaches epidemic proportions—all thanks to flawed dietary guidelines
In the 21st century, Type II diabetes has become a raging epidemic. In fact, older adults are the group that disproportionately suffers from the condition—as a result of following the government’s misguided advice to cut out foods with cholesterol and fat. Which means they cut eating healthy, whole foods like dairy, eggs, meat, and certain seafood.
In turn, they replaced these healthy foods with poor-quality, ultra-processed, low-fat foods full of sugars and refined carbs. Which are, of course, the real causes of Type II diabetes. (And today, many turn to eating ultra-processed “gluten-free” foods, which are also packed with sugar.)
So now that the Endocrine Society is finally paying some attention to older adults with Type II diabetes, what are they actually recommending?
One step forward, two steps back
At this annual meeting, the Endocrine Society released a set of new guidelines for treating adults over age 65 with Type II diabetes.
They recommend:
- Getting screened regularly for pre-diabetes and diabetes
- Delaying or preventing new cases with “various classes of medications”
- Warning clinicians about the widespread problem of hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) among older adults caused by Type II diabetes drugs
Now, I’m all for regular blood glucose screenings. But, typically, the screenings serve to push more people earlier into drug treatments…which is often a complete disaster, especially with some of the newer drugs, as I regularly report.
In fact, newer Type II diabetes drugs have been linked to all sorts of problems, including deadly gangrene. Insulin and insulin type drugs aren’t the answer either, as I’ve explained before.
The only type II diabetes drug I ever recommended was metformin. This tried-and-true, inexpensive, generic drug doesn’t have the problems of newer diabetes drugs.
It also has what I call “biome-availability,” meaning it goes to work right in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract to keep excess sugars and carbs from entering the blood in the first place. And perhaps best of all, it derives from an ancient herbal remedy called French lilac. Of course, truly best of all is the new science showing the benefits of natural approaches for controlling blood sugar.
Aggressive treatments happen far too often
Now—as the Endocrine Society pointed out—low blood sugar among older people being treated for Type II diabetes is a big problem. But low blood sugar is the result of overly aggressive drug treatments!
In fact, as I’ve pointed out before, the new diabetes drugs frequently cause low blood sugar when the doses are too large or not adjusted. And it’s especially common among older people with diabetes.
Plus, low blood sugar causes a cascade of other problems among older adults…including dizziness, fainting, and falling. (The same kinds of problems apply to older patients prescribed drugs for high blood pressure—which often occurs along with diabetes in older people. I’ll tell you more in the October 2019 issue of my Insiders’ Cures newsletter.)
The Endocrine Society says clinicians should aim to have their patients achieve hemoglobin A1C levels between 7.0 percent and 7.5 percent. (Hemoglobin A1C is a long-term measure of your blood sugar over the past four months or so.)
But no evidence shows there’s actually any benefit for patients achieving this level. So why make that the target?
In the end, I’m glad (and still a little shocked) someone finally admitted they’ve been neglecting the real, growing problem of Type II diabetes in older adults for decades.
But the guidelines they offer are largely useless or counterproductive. And they certainly aren’t backed by science! So, it’s no real progress at all.
As I said—it’s always one step forward and two steps back.
And at the end of the day, my advice remains the same…
Cut out the ultra-processed carbs and sugars (the real culprits of Type II diabetes). And aim to follow a Mediterranean-type diet, which includes plenty of:
- Full-fat dairy (including grass-fed whole milk, cheese, and butter)
- Fruits
- Nuts and Seeds
- Organic meats
- Seafood
- Vegetables
For more uncommonly effective, commonsense strategies to prevent—and even reverse—Type II diabetes, check out my online learning protocol, the Integrative Protocol for Defeating Diabetes. To learn more about this special online learning tool, or to enroll today, simply click here.
P.S. In the November 2018 issue of my monthly newsletter, Insiders’ Cures, I discuss my own blood sugar formula that’s available to you (“SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: My blood sugar breakthrough formula—now available to you”). Subscribers have access to this content in my archives. So if you haven’t already, consider signing up today…click here now!
Source:
“New Endocrine Society Guidelines Address Diabetes in Older Adults.” Medscape, 3/23/2019. (medscape.com/viewarticle/910856)