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Diets for Diabetics

My brother is diabetic, I seek your suggestions?

Anurag K asked:

He is 27 yrs old, was very athletic and fit. Diabetes was diagonised in him six months ago,but he might have been diabetic for some years now.for some years he had been suffering from occasional acute stomachache. His sugar level always remains between 140-200 before or after fast, despite medicines. Doctor recently advised him insulin. We think dependence on insulin is risky and costly, so we are avoiding insuling and instead he is following tight yoga,exercise and diet schedule, to no avail. He is getting weaker day by day. Kindly provide your opinions. Does it mean he will not be able to live a normal life or his days are numbered?

We are doubtful if he has Type I or Type II. Doctors have never specified. He has undergone most of the tests recommended for such patients and eveything has been found normal.But we guess his case is of Type I. How can it be cleary determined? his Hb1Ac report was 197 mgdl. Isn’t is possible that his is only Type II? We’re worried and confused.
Is is possible his is only Type II? If it is so/not so, does taking insuling once makes one dependent on it for lifetime? Or should he try to take is for some time then try to manage without it once he becomes normally fit? It is possible?

Why don’t docs suggedst him to take vitamin-mineral supplements in the form of medicines to improve his health? He has always been taking normal food and exercises/yoga(as advised by docs now) for long as a routine. So,I wonder how the same can now control his sugar levels. He is getting weaker day by day, despite taking medicines to control sugar.

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Diabetes Question

Is anyone scared that advances in medicine will make humans weaker in the long run?

CJP asked:

When a person before the age of “modern medicine” say 1900 or so had a terminal illness, natural selection and the absense of a cure would cause that particular person to die prematurely, in which case, they could not pass their defect or disease on to any offspring (if they didn’t have any yet).

Now, medicine has evolved to where we are keeping people serious diseases such as depression, diabetes, asthma, etc alive with drugs.  Diabetes, in particular, is a problem of the future as the rate of diagnosis is climbing every year.

This hits on a personal note because I have serious asthma and probably would have died before the age of 5 if there wasn’t today’s medicine. Now I am worried about passing that on to any children I might have, and I’m considering not having any due to this and some other conditions I have, such as degenerated discs in my back at the age of 15. I’m 28 now….

My feeling is that the reason health care costs are astronomical is because each person has more problems today because we aren’t weeding out the weak or defective.

Opinions?

Categories
Diabetes Question

What is the easiest and best diabetes monitoring kit?

Karen asked:

My friend has type 2 diabetes and only tests himself when he feels bad. He goes to his parents house and borrows his mom’s kit. I want to buy him one that he can carry with him and is easy to use;doesn’t need alot of maintainance.