Simple CAN be best....

This was one of those weekends that I sat at home and just read….



You see I’ve come to figure out that the “benefits of membership” is that I get to fill a cardboard box full of brightly colored journals, newsletters and magazines. So every couple of months, when I can’t stuff any more into the box, I pour myself a cup of tea, pour myself in to the recliner and start skimming (read: dozing).



Looking down at the floor after my latest nap I would swear to you that I must have a good third of the sequoia national forest on my living room floor right now… but at least I’m learning something today.



One of the most talked about topics in the magazines is the topic of diabetes. Apparently, folks have figured out that we have a diabetes problem in this country, and their might be more strategies in helping to manage it this insidious disease. (Read: a more profitable way for the drug companies to manage the disease)



Looking at the journals, various articles and blogs, there seems to be an article referenced from The New York Times In Diabetes, a Complex of Causes. - pardon the link. I hope it works.
You’d be forgiven if your first thought upon reading this article was about how wonderful it is that we live in the technological age where medical breakthroughs happen by the day.



But let’s examine this article a little more closely.



The diabetes article belies the “gee whiz” mentality that scientists and some medical professionals display when confronted with results or findings that don’t fall in lockstep with the prevailing scientific or medical orthodoxy - I remember not long ago when all of the low-fat supporters were left scratching their heads when major longitudinal studies on low-fat diets tend to show worse health and longevity for folks on low-fat diets.



I’ll pin down the relevant passages from the diabetes article below in case the link above didn’t work. Of course I have to comment on it, what’s the point of having a blog anyway?



1. “The defining feature of diabetes is elevated blood sugar. But the reasons for abnormal sugar seem to ‘differ tremendously from person to person,’ said Dr. Robert A. Rizza, a professor at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine.”



The common thread in Type 2 diabetes is chronic elevation of insulin levels. While there may be many different mechanisms that lead to this hyperinsulimia in different individuals, one thing holds true: the less sugar you eat, the less insulin your body has to dump into the bloodstream to ferry that sugar into the cells. That holds true for all human biochemistry and it’s something that’s within the reach of every person to control (whereas I think controlling the rate of bone secretion of osteocalcin or punching little holes into your brain is beyond the yen of your average Joe or Jane).

2. “Drugs that increase (insulin) production tend to make insulin resistance worse.”


More than being an interesting coincidence, this makes logical sense. If the underlying mechanism of insulin resistance (and ultimately, Type 2 diabetes) is the “deafness” of the body’s cells to the call of insulin, then drugs that serve to amplify the call of insulin would hasten the progression of insulin resistance.



Which just goes to show that treating the symptoms of a disease without an appreciation of the disease’s overall scope is short-sighted indeed.



3. “A deficiency in osteocalcin could also turn out to be a cause of Type 2 Diabetes, Dr. Karsenty said.”



To use a tired analogy, just because fire trucks are usually at the site of a fire doesn’t mean that fire trucks cause fires.



4. “If osteocalcin works similarly in humans, it could turn out to be a ‘unique new treatment’ for Type 2 diabetes, Dr. Malozowski said.”



…or, instead of spending billions trying to make a brand new drug to treat Type 2 diabetes, you could just tell patients to eat less sugar. And to strength train, since strength training improves insulin sensitivity.



Now, I’m not poo-pooing the furthering of science, nor am I against the use of modern medical solutions (Read: drugs) for medical problems. But let’s face it: this nation has a diabetes problem because it has a sugar problem. And it’s irresponsible to promote drug-based solutions (and to profit handsomely from them) if a less invasive lifestyle alternative Sometimes the simplest solution is the best solution (and the cheapest, to boot).



Maybe you could try telling people to eat less sugar. Just a thought. Sometimes simple IS best.