1) PREFACE
This ebook can be summarized by three actions needed to control type 2 diabetes: weight control, exercise, and diet (avoiding "feedlot" meats and grain based carbohydrates). It is a simple plan which can have thousands of variations and still be successful.
There are literally hundreds of diabetes and weight treatment plans. Amazon lists over 100 books and over 9,000 articles under "type 2 diabetes". They list over 600 books and over 9,000 articles under "weight loss diets". Typically about half of what is in each of these plans is based on valid scientific evidence and about half is based on conjecture, opinions and "anecdotal evidence". Naturally the recommendations based on scientific research generally work and the half of the plan based on anecdotal evidence and opinion typically don't work. Unfortunately it is generally the half of the plan that doesn't work that is the part of the plan which is the easiest to follow. Plans put out by the Government are generally about twenty years behind the research, bureaucracy moves very very slow. Plans put out by large medical associations (the ADA in particular) move almost as slow. The grain industry, corn industry and the meat industry control a lot of senators, and this makes any recommendations that alienate any of these groups very hard to get by the establishment. There are also a few treatment programs, generally available only to professionals such as dieticians and doctors, which are based solely on the latest scientific data. Unfortunately most of these programs are extremely rigid. As a result, long term patient compliance rarely occurs; the programs are just too rigid.
It is vital that anyone with type 2 diabetes find a flexible treatment plan that they can live with for the rest of their lives. What is recommended in this ebook is a "Moderate Approach" which gives any person with type 2 diabetes many different options with which to control their disease. Most importantly, all of these options are based on the latest statistically valid research, not simply one expert's "opinion". There are "experts" with all sorts of opinions. I've seen "expert opinions" that state that weight loss doesn't help with type 2 diabetes. No meaningful statistically valid multi-center research that I could find backs this up but that doesn't stop the "experts" from writting it in books and articles. The books and articles sell (desperate people buy books and magazines which tell them what they want to know, even if it is not based on good research) and the profit motive is a great motivator. The "opinion" is generally based on semantics, for instance weight lose doesn't "cure" type 2 diabetes, there is no cure for type 2 diabetes. Weight loss only controls type 2 diabetes. Then there is always the exception that occurs, the extremely obese individual that lives to be 90 in spite of having type 2 diabetes for 50 years, or the obese individual who religiously brings their weight down to low normal and still dies of diabetes complications at an early age. And of course there are many, many morbidly obese people who do not have the genetic make-up to develop type 2 diabetes or heart disease, especially if their obesity is not centered on their waist.
This ebook also outlines, in layman's terms, the research confirmed reasons behind many of the recommendations, so that any individual with type 2 diabetes can weigh the alternatives themselves and decide on a course of action best suited to their tastes and lifestyle. It also has to be remember that each person with type 2 diabetes reacts differently to different courses of action. There is no "one size fits all". This is one reason why there are success stories to be had with almost any plan. Try different options and see what is best for you. Try one course, weigh and test frequently, try another course, weigh and and test frequently, etc.
This ebook also reflects the fact that virtual all individuals with type 2 diabetes have heart disease at the same time; the two are caused by the same factors. Fully 75% of all individuals with type 2 diabetes will die from heart disease (technically, disease of the large blood vessels of the body). This ebook gives advice on what an individual with both type 2 diabetes and heart disease should be doing, because that is reality. There are far too many people with type 2 diabetes who first become aware of the connection between type 2 diabetes and heart problems when they have a heart attack.
There are several excellent internet links we will mention: one is David Mendosa's site which is an excellent and comprehensive site that someone could spend weeks perusing. David is very even handed and his advice dovetails with what is in this ebook. His main site is mendosa.com while his very comprehensive and up to date page of links is http://mendosa.com/genl.htm. Unfortunately, while David Mendoza is very even handed and fair, some of these sites just give out retread ADA information and then try to sell you an herbal supplement such as "Tibetian Goji Juice". David Mendoza also has a list of good books on diabetes at http://mendosa.com/reviews_books.htm. There is a website full of videos on diabetes at http://www.5min.com/Category/Health/Diabetes. Also excellent are the American Diabetes Association (ADA) website at http://www.diabetes.org/home.jsp, the National Diabetes Clearing House run by the National Institutes of Health at http://diabetes.niddk.nih.gov and the internet newsletter Health Central: http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes. There is even a huge book on diabetes at the NIH site: http://diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/dm/pubs/america/contents.htm. Note that the American Diabetes Association and the National Institutes of Health infrequently but sometimes take a very conservative "traditional" approach that is at odds with the latest research (for instance, their position that high carbohydrate diets are acceptable). They both also emphasis medication and diet much more than exercise and weight loss. They both say walking and small amounts of weight loss are sufficient for an individual with diabetes. But they also lump type 2 diabetes treatments in with type 1 diabetes treatments. Type 2 diabetes requires a considerably different treatment plan than does type 1 diabetes. Essential to controlling type 2 diabetes is reducing the weight to at least "normal" (preferably to "low normal") and getting in vigorous exercise at least three times a week. Weight loss and exercise are probably both more important than diet and medication for patients with type 2 diabetes, especially the newly diagnosed.
To find a diabetes teacher near you, call the American Association of Diabetes Educators toll-free at 1–800–TEAMUP4 (832–6874) or see www.diabeteseducator.org and click on “Find an Educator". To find a "Recognized Diabetes Education Program" near you, call the American Diabetes Association toll-free at 1–800–DIABETES (342–2383) or see www.diabetes.org/education/edustate2.asp on the Internet. To find a dietitian near you, call the American Dietetic Association’s National Center for Nutrition and Dietetics toll-free at 1–800–877–1600 or see www.eatright.org and click on “Find a Nutrition Professional.” For books and some solid advice, Doctor Richard K. Bernstein's website is excellent, http://www.diabetes-book.com. There is an excellent book by Gretchen Becker "The First year, Type 2 Diabetes" (Marlowe and Company, New York, copyright 2001) which should be the first book anyone with type 2 diabetes reads. There is also a very interesting book available written by a Xerox engineer (the author of this ebook was a Xerox engineer for 17 years). Much of this book is in agreement with what is found here-in. The book is "Death to Diabetes" by DeWayne McCulley and can be found in the Google book section. Mr. McCulley de-emphasizes weight loss in an interesting manner. He says weight loss is not important then advises a diet plan through which significant weight loss is inevitable. Kind of shrewd! But Mr. McCulley emphasizes herbal and mineral supplements and recommends regular "detoxification". We just cannot find any statistically meaningful research which supports these positions, so we don't recommend them.
The author of this "ebook" is David Bogert, a medical researcher and engineer (11 patents with 14 more in process) who has spent his life working with statistics. David was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes several years ago and began reading all he could about his condition. He was quickly dissatisfied with much of what he found (it was based on "expert opinions", anecdotal evidence or poorly done biased "research"). His background in statistics enabled him to separate out those studies which appeared to be legitimate (impressively technical titles, lots of technical jargon, lots of PhD authors in on the research, impressive research institutions, impressive journals, etc.), but were simply not legitimate, they simply "proved" what the study authors had set out to prove. The author has a very rigid set of standards for what constitutes statistically significant research (see the appendix). He decided to put together his own synopsis of the latest pertinent meaningful statistically significant unbiased research studies he could find. Boiling all this data down he found he had what basically amounted to a ebook and he decided to put it up on the web to give others with the same condition access to those studies in a simple format. Anyone wanting to contact him can email him at DLBoge1@q.com .
What is contained here-in is for informational purposes only, not treatment. It must be emphasized that nothing contained herein can take the place of the advice given by physicians and medical professionals. Anyone with type 2 diabetes needs to be constantly monitored by a medical doctor (preferably an endocrinologist) and needs to take that medical doctor's advice. The author is not a physician and does not proport to dispense medical advice. The author assumes no liability for any damage that may result from the views, suggestions and research outlined in this ebook. There are many variables in the disease of type 2 diabetes and predicting each individual's reaction to any course of action is best done by a medical professional. "Do it yourself" treatment of an ailment as serious as diabetes is not a good idea, even if one researches the subject for years.
Next chapter: 2, TYPE 2 DIABETES CONTROL
a) Introduction
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