November 14 is United Nations World Diabetes Day (UN WDD).  The World Diabetes Day (WDD) website states…

“Diabetes is a chronic, potentially debilitating and often fatal disease. The disease occurs as a result of problems with the production and supply of insulin in the body. Either the body produces no or insufficient insulin or the body cannot use the insulin it produces effectively.”

The fact is, this “potentially debilitating” disease will be chronic only as long as the root cause of diabetes doesn’t get fixed.

Unfortunately, our “modern” medical system doesn’t appear to be interested in solving these underlying causes.

They instead focus their efforts on “controlling” diabetes, by merely suppressing the symptoms associated with this disease through expensive medication and/or insulin… By artificially keeping certain diabetes indicators (such as glucose and insulin levels) within “acceptable” ranges, it appears as though the diabetes is being “managed”.

The truth, however is that underneath it all, the disease itself keeps getting — little by little — worse. That’s why virtually all diabetics keep getting more and more medications prescribed… to “control” the ever-increasing number of complications and serious “side effects”.

It’s also the reason why diabetics face a grim 80% risk of death by heart disease or stroke (in addition to a lengthy list of other grim complications), even when they continue to use drugs and/or insulin to “control” their diabetes.

- Trevor K. Neuman

Previous entries introduced some of the many contributing factors to diabetes. What is surprising to most people, is that many medications can actually cause diabetes, primarily by depleting vital vitamins, minerals and nutrients from our bodies. How is this possible?!? Is it possible that the medications that are supposed to be helping us, are actually making us sicker??

Nonetheless, we shall meticulously and scientifically prove in this blog -– and many medical doctors, prominent scientists and top researchers have publicly documented these indisputable facts –- that sadly, this is indeed frequently the case.

For far too long, we the public have somehow allowed the very powerful and extremely profitable pharmaceutical giants, with their crafty commercials, to basically insult our intelligence, and attempt to treat us as a bunch of adolescents rather than rational adults. They somehow manage to turn symptoms into a disease with a label (i.e. “acid reflux disease” –- often the result of poor dietary habits).

Many people are then led to believe that their health, and possibly even their life, is somehow dependent upon these potentially dangerous and outrageously inflated drugs, or that they shouldn’t have to live with the pain. The proponents deviously evaluate exactly what it might be worth to a person to somehow make a particular symptom such as pain go away. The established retail price that the consumer is normally charged has little to do with the actual cost of producing the drug.

Also, according to a USA Today study, more than half of the experts hired to advise the FDA on the safety and effectiveness of medicine have financial ties to the pharmaceutical companies that will be helped or hurt by their decisions.

The sincerest motives of the medical PROFESSION are derailed by the greed and power of the medical INDUSTRY.
For Example: if you are ever diagnosed with cancer, you need to know that your MD or Oncologist is legally forbidden from curing your cancer. Their hands are tied by the FDA and AMA, who have used their power to pass legislation forbidding any licensed MD from treating cancer with anything other than treatments that have never proven to work –- surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy.
- Medical Truth

“The thing that bugs me is that people think the Food and Drug Administration is protecting them –- it isn’t. What the FDA is doing and what the public thinks it’s doing are as different as night and day.”
— Dr. Herbert L. Ley, former Commissioner of the FDA.

Did you know? The average lifespan of the average American is 75 years, while the average lifespan of your MD is 58 years! Following your doctor’s advice can cost you 17 years of your life (if you’re lucky)!! Is there something our Doctors are not being taught?

In spite of our supposedly superior medical technology, the USA is #1 in the world in degenerative disease and the 20th in life expectancy.
– World Health Organization

“Heart disease, cancer, stroke are the top 3 killers in our country [Despite the fact that all 3 of these diseases have been curable for decades]. The 4th major killer in the US is prescription drugs.”
– USA Today

Any treatment that you can obtain and self-administer threatens to remove your doctor from the treatment program. Although your doctor may not object to this, the American Medical Association (AMA) is strongly opposed to such a trend. For this reason the American Medical Association has pushed for legislation to prevent the public from ever being exposed to alternatives.

It has come to light that the FDA and the Pharmaceutical Advertising Counsel (PAC), which represents some 35 major drug companies, have formed and co-funded a corporation under a joint letterhead, calling itself the National Council Against Health Fraud (NCAHF). Under this questionable aegis, William Jarvis, MD, and Stephen Barrett, MD, and others, are paid to publicly discredit as unscientific or unknown any viable herbs, vitamins, homeopathic remedies or non-allopathic therapies, particularly those that are proven to have the most promise and present the greatest threat to the PAC members.
- Medical Truth

The FDA regularly approves dangerous, often lethal pharmaceuticals. Most of the time, the side effects of these drugs can only be fully discovered by widespread use.

Typically, after one of these highly publicized “wonder” drugs fails, causes death or serious side effects, no FDA official nor PAC member company president, research assistant, corporate official, company doctor nor testing lab will be subjected to raid, investigation, indictment or jail term as often happens to “alternative” practitioners.

Isn’t there something drastically wrong with this picture!?

- Dr. David W. Tanton

According to the American Diabetes Association, “Diabetes causes 35 million heart attacks, 13 million strokes, 2 million amputations and 62 million deaths. That’s the expected toll from diabetes… unless major action is taken to curb and control it…”

Further, the American Diabetes Association calculates there are 20.8 million diabetics in America; with another 54 million people having pre-diabetes (placing them at high risk for developing Type II diabetes). This equates to 75 million Americans having diabetes, or being at high risk.

Contrast these alarming figures to 100 years ago, when diabetes cases were so rare, most doctors never saw or diagnosed the disease even once in their entire medical careers.

And ten years ago, Type II diabetes was virtually unheard of in children. Yet now, numerous doctors and health professionals predict that by the year 2010, 50% of our children will have Type II diabetes before they turn 20!

Most doctors believe that diabetes is incurable… that’s what they’ve been taught. The best you could hope for – according to what they learned in medical school – is to “control” this disease with medication and insulin.

And they’re right… Diabetes is incurable… At least it’s incurable if you follow most doctors’ advice of merely suppressing your diabetes symptoms with pharmaceutical drugs.

That’s because most doctors’ advice – taking ever-increasing doses of medications – doesn’t solve the root problem of diabetes. These drugs merely attempt to “control” the symptoms of high glucose levels, insulin resistance, etc.

And because these medications cause other health problems (side effects), your doctor ends up prescribing more drugs to “control” those new symptoms… which cause yet further “side effects”… and/or render your original medications less effective, so your doctor doubles or quadruples your original dosages… and this vicious cycle just goes on and on…

You’re caught in the “Diabetes Trap”!

In fact, millions of diabetics are stuck in this trap of continually “needing” more and higher doses of medications. And what awaits them is an implicit death sentence of heart disease… stroke… obesity… kidney failure… debilitating nerve damage… blindness… impotence… and/or some of the many other seemingly inescapable diabetes complications.

Simply because the underlying cause of their diabetes was never addressed.

If we just learn the rules of health and show our body the respect it deserves, it is perfectly capable of efficiently managing the details, and there will be absolutely no reason to stress about all those levels.

Although many people tend to believe that disease is just the result of getting older, that doesn’t necessarily have to be the case. Disease is normally the result of an unhealthy condition in the body, (not the result of our age), and something we all can control.

We just need to learn what our body really needs and then provide it, and stop abusing it with all those potentially dangerous and unnecessary drugs.

- Dr. David W. Tanton

According to the American Diabetes Association (ADA) and the Canadian Diabetes Association (CDA), between 75% to 80% of diabetics will die of heart disease or stroke.

And here are just a few more facts directly from the American Diabetes Association:

• Nerve Damage: 60% to 70% of diabetics are affected by diabetic neuropathy.
• Amputations: Diabetes is the #1 cause of non-traumatic amputations; diabetics have a 40 times greater risk of leg amputations than people with normal blood sugar levels.
• Kidney Failure: Diabetes is the #1 cause of kidney failure, and is responsible for 40% of all new cases.
• Blindness: Diabetes is the #1 cause of blindness; diabetics are also at increased risk for glaucoma and cataracts.
• Other Complications: Diabetes also increases the risk for infections, impotence, digestive problems, memory loss, dementia, periodontal or gum disease, and a host of other problems.

Additionally, according to numerous research studies, including a recent study of over 1 million people, diabetics are also about 30% more likely to develop, and die from, cancer.

And if these statistics aren’t bad enough for you, the American Diabetes Association puts the number of diabetics in America at 20.8 million; with another 54 million having pre-diabetes, which places them at high risk for developing Type II diabetes.

Worse, according to a new report from the National Institutes of Health, nearly half of American men today either have the disease, or are on the verge of developing it.

Since 1980, diabetic cases in the United States have sky-rocketed by an already alarming 47 percent, and this shocking trend is expected to go ballistic over the coming decade.

Pretty scary stuff…

- Trevor K. Neuman

Unfortunately, far too many doctors have only a superficial knowledge of the many medications they prescribe daily, both when it comes to diabetes prescriptions, or drugs for other health problems.

All too often, drugs are prescribed in potentially dangerous combinations, where apparent oversight seems to be obvious.

Now, with the assistance of the late news anchor Peter Jennings, we will evaluate the opinions of some medical experts that appear to have a conscience.

These are medical doctors who are totally aware of the corruption in the very powerful and profitable (legal) drug industry, and are not afraid to express their opinion. The following excerpts were taken from the ABC News Special Report - Bitter Medicine: Pills, Profit and the Public Health. This report by Peter Jennings aired on Wednesday, May 29, 2004 on ABC.

Peter Jennings – …Dr. Drummond Rennie is an editor at The Journal of the American Medical Association. He says researchers who are critical get attacked all the time. Do you actually believe, Dr. Rennie, that drug companies are intent on keeping the consumer on drugs, which are not as good as older drugs, for the simple requirement of profit?

Dr. Drummond Rennie – Yes. Yes, very much so. Absolutely. …They’ve got to be prevented.

Peter Jennings – … The top 10 drug companies combined made profits of more than $37 billion in the year 2001. And you, the taxpayer, are subsidizing research that benefits the drug industry.

Peter Jennings – The majority of the drugs approved by the FDA are simply modifications of old drugs…Consumers spend $90 billion more on prescription drugs last year than was spent just six years ago. And are we $90 billion healthier? …But what critics call this ‘gaming of the system’ may have a much more damaging result.

Dr. Sharon Levine, Kaiser Permanente Medical Group – If I’m a manufacturer, and I can change one molecule and get another 20 years of patent life and convince physicians to prescribe and consumers to demand … then why would I be spending money on a lot less certain endeavor, which is looking for brand new drugs?

Peter Jennings – The pharmaceutical industry has more registered lobbyists than the number of senators and congressmen combined.

Dr. Jerry Avorn, Brigham and Women’s Hospital – I think there’s a sense that, for example, when the FDA approves a drug, everything that needs to be known about it is known. I think patients believe that. I think doctors sometimes believe that. And that is not true.

Dr. Matt Handley, Group Health Cooperative – I would personally wait years for long-term safety from the FDA’s monitoring program before I’d consider taking them. If they were free, I would do that same thing.

Peter Jennings – What does this say about the social responsibility of the pharmaceutical industry? Or is the pharmaceutical industry supposed to have a social responsibility?

Dr. Sharon Levine – That’s a very good question that the American people need to answer, do we want to entrust critical elements of the public health to an industry whose purpose, whose mission is to earn return for shareholders?

Peter Jennings – Congress has never required the FDA to routinely compare new drugs with older drugs. This is costing consumers billions of dollars that we do not need to spend. And in some cases, it could be costing lives. …There is no law that says new drugs have to be proven 100 percent safe. … The government says they must be relatively safe, which means that every drug comes with risks. And the result of that is that sometimes new drugs turn out to be more dangerous than old drugs.

Dr. Jerry Avorn, Harvard Medical School – If patients were aware of the limitations that all of us physicians have in terms of what we know and what we wish we knew and what we don’t know, they would be more scared than they are at present. …The saying that a lot of doctors use sometimes in jest is, ‘Always wait a year before prescribing a new drug. And if it’s for a family member, wait five years.’ And that’s an awful thing to say, but it reveals a perception that we really don’t know as much as we would like to know about a drug until it’s been around. INSERT: In other words, tested on the public.

Peter Jennings – The fact is, drugs can be used for years before we really know how safe they are. …Dr. Drummond Rennie is an editor at The Journal of the American Medical Association. He says researchers who are critical get attacked all the time. Why do you think the industry is able to get away with what you have in the past called ‘bullying tactics’?

Dr. Drummond Rennie, Journal of the American Medical Association – Money. Because if the shareholders are happy, whom else do they have to answer for? These are multinationals. They have no masters.

Peter Jennings – Can we trust studies funded by companies that have a vested interest in the results? …Will the pharmaceutical industry do whatever it takes to get the results it wants from research?

Dr. Drummond Rennie – The temptation to spin those results is always there, and it’s frequently used. Frequently.

Peter Jennings – For nearly every drug on the market, doctors must wrestle with conflicting and sometimes inaccurate information.

Dr. Drummond Rennie – If only the good news about a drug is published, and never the bad news, then a false impression is given of the quality, effectiveness of that drug. It may be entirely false.

Peter Jennings – Does the drug industry, on occasion or regularly, suppress data?

Dr. Drummond Rennie – Oh, we suspect, and rather know, that this happens all the time.

Peter Jennings – Does a drug company ever not publish the results of a trial because it doesn’t like the results?

Dr. Drummond Rennie – Yes.

Peter Jennings – Do you actually believe, Dr. Rennie, that drug companies are intent on keeping the consumer on drugs, which are not as good as older drugs, for the simple requirement of profit?

Dr. Drummond Rennie – Yes. Yes, very much so. Absolutely. …They’ve got to be prevented.

Peter Jennings – There is one last thing this evening which we believe is important for all of us. The questions about what we are getting for our money cannot and must not be answered only by the drug companies. Virtually everyone we talked to for this broadcast agrees on that. The rules by which this hugely profitable industry operates do not always serve consumers adequately. And nothing is going to happen, no matter how angry consumers get, unless the Congress and the president decide that the time is come. The country can do better. I’m Peter Jennings. Thank you for joining us. Good night.

I can’t help but respect Peter Jennings for conducting the interview to help us better understand the corruption in medicine that I am fully aware of, although many in the nation are not. All too often we see announcements in the national news promoting the use of drugs in deceptive ways, and at times for unapproved uses.

A prime example is the woman who was interviewed on the national news, claiming that after stopping Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT), she discovered that Paxil™ seemed to help reduce her hot flashes. That announcement was aired shortly after it was announced that HRT had many potential associated problems, so many women stopped their HRT drugs. Although there are natural supplements proven to resolve the hot flashes, taking Paxil™ is much more of a serious threat than HRT.

Paxil™ is a very serious antidepressant never approved for hot flashes, or anything other than depression. Paxil™ is the same basic class of antidepressants as Prozac™, but an even more potent version.

One woman was actually prescribed Paxil™ to help her stop biting her fingernails! She soon discovered that biting her nails was minor compared to the major problem she experienced from the use of Paxil™. For over a year she could no longer control her movements, and as a result was unable to work.

I would guess that after the interview on the national news indicating that Paxil™ might possibly help prevent hot flashes, many women likely asked their doctor if they could try Paxil™. Unfortunately, many doctors would likely accommodate them, and write a prescription for Paxil™, just like the doctor did for the lady who was biting her fingernails. Hot flashes are basically a walk in the park compared to the many potential side effects associated with this serious class of antidepressants (diabetes being just one of many).

- Dr. David W. Tanton

About 80% of diabetics suffer from a hypothyroid (low thyroid) condition. In fact, according to clinical trials done by Dr. Broda Barnes, even when many of his diabetic patients were able to stabilize their blood sugar, most of the other symptoms of diabetes wouldn’t go away until they were given effective thyroid therapy.

He also notes: “Thyroid therapy prevented complications in Dr. Eaton’s diabetic patients twenty years ago and has been preventing the same complications in my patients, diabetic and non-diabetic, for twenty-four years” (Hypothyroidism – The Unsuspected Illness, 1976, p. 227). That was in my opinion, quite an amazing discovery, with tremendous potential for diabetics.

When the thyroid is suppressed, the metabolism is reduced, requiring less sugar to be used for energy. Less glucose would obviously be required to maintain a lower-than-normal body temperature, than if the body temperature was maintained at the appropriate 98.6 degrees.

If a person were still consuming the same foods, as well as the same amount, the result would be an excess of unused sugar in the bloodstream. This would then result in increased insulin production, leading to insulin resistance, increased fat storage, and eventually Type II diabetes.

Possibly the worst combination that could contribute to obesity would be an excess of insulin (which is very efficient in storing fat), plus a deficiency of the thyroid hormone (which is responsible for fat removal), combined with an excess of unused sugar. The elevated blood sugar can be potentially dangerous, so it must be converted and stored as abdominal fat (another contributor to insulin resistance).

Modern Medicine’s Flawed Thyroid Evaluation and Treatment

Many of the symptoms associated with hypothyroidism are very similar to those associated with hypoglycemia, and both are often experienced by diabetics, with depression, mood swings, and behavioral disorders being the most common. The question is: Could these symptoms possibly be even more pronounced, when experiencing both conditions concurrently?

If that holds true (which seems logical), depression would probably be even more serious, and a prescription for an antidepressant, (or possibly an additional antidepressant), would all too often be many doctors’ solution.

There are also other symptoms associated with hypothyroidism, such as: brittle nails, dry skin and hair, low metabolism or inability to lose weight, fatigue or low motivation, headaches, fluid retention, heat or cold intolerance, as well as depression and mood swings to help identify the condition. Unfortunately, most medical doctors fail to take the time necessary to properly diagnose the underlying problem, thus a prescription for an antidepressant is all too often the typical response.

If you went to your doctor, who like most medical doctors studied traditional (allopathic) medicine, a hypothyroid condition could easily be misdiagnosed to begin with.

Standard procedure practiced by most medical doctors (even endocrinologists, who specialize in hormonal disorders such as thyroid), would rely on the standard blood test evaluating your Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) and possibly T4 thyroid levels. In many cases, the TSH and T4 thyroid levels would be considered as normal, and you would thus be notified that your thyroid is not a concern (although it very well could be).

Then, even if your doctor decided that thyroid supplementation might possibly be in order, he like most allopathic doctors, would likely prescribe Synthroid™, Levothroid™ or Levoxyl™, one of the artificial forms of T4 thyroid. The problem is you are likely not experiencing a T4 thyroid deficiency, and thus your medication will seldom work, and could at times make matters even worse, by shutting down even more of the active T3 thyroid that would normally be produced by the thyroid.

Following The Money Trail…
Why Thyroid Conditions Likely Remain Unresolved

The basic problem is: A low thyroid condition can potentially lead to many different of symptoms (thirty or more), which are likely due to a reduction in the enzyme action of all 3,000 enzymes in the body.

This then opens the door for a lot of prescriptions to deal with each of the potential symptoms. One of the most common symptoms associated with a hypothyroid condition is depression, and thus unnecessary prescriptions for antidepressants.

Unfortunately, the most common class, known as SSRI antidepressants such as Prozac™, Paxil™, Zoloft™, and Celexa™, etc., stimulate the adrenals to produce the stress hormone cortisol, which actually leads to elevated blood sugar.

The SSRI antidepressants can thus not only worsen existing diabetes, but are also known to contribute to the development of diabetes in non-diabetics, from their long-term usage. That’s not the only problem, as they also contribute to another serious condition known as adrenal fatigue, which is seldom properly diagnosed by most medical doctors.

- Dr. David W. Tanton

The problem with the vast majority of diabetes information out there, is that much of it is the same old re-hashed stuff that’s put out by the “official” diabetes sources. However, as is revealed throughout this website (with clearly-documented evidence), a substantial portion of that information is based on seriously flawed research, and out-dated theories about diabetes treatments.

Granted, a small handful of these diabetes books and resources are indeed rather good. Nonetheless, they still don’t successfully address the deep underlying issue of what actually causes diabetes in the first place. Yes, they may talk about different ways to control insulin and blood glucose levels through:

• diet and nutrition;
• exercise;
• weight loss;
• eliminating toxins;
• etc.

Yet while these are all unquestionably important factors in overcoming diabetes, they still don’t truly get to the heart of what causes this destructive disease. As a result, many diabetics who follow the advice from those books may still fail to beat diabetes.

Millions of diabetics world-wide are desperately hoping for a way to break free from the Diabetes Trap. Many have already begun to recognize the appalling truth, that most doctors have no real answers for them.

That’s why the meticulously-researched information on this website is so helpful to diabetics everywhere.

- Dr. David W. Tanton

Need proof? Here it is… directly from the American Diabetes Association and the Canadian Diabetes Association: 4 out of 5 people with diabetes die of heart disease. Or, you could end up blind… have a limb amputated… risk kidney disease… or die from some other complication(s)!

What’s wrong with this picture?! Why has diabetes become such a health crisis? It’s because the conventional wisdom all the “experts” tell about treating diabetes is a load of bull. They focus mostly on treating and controlling the symptons — instead of dealing with the underlying root cause of the disease. And if you follow their advice, you are virtually guaranteed to succumb to one or more of the complications listed above.

All you need to do is look at the undeniable facts and statistics — and your own experience — to know this is true.

It’s probably not your doctor’s fault. (But we’ll cover that in another post on this blog…)

Fortunately, help is on the way. If you’ve just been diagnosed with diabetes… or you’ve already suffered painful insulin injection, special diets and daily finger-pricking for years… or you worry about the long-term side-effects of diabetes medications… the solution to your problems is in this website.

Simply read the posts and the recommended resources, and the breakthrough report Escaping The Diabetes Trap, and you too can finally solve the ROOT PROBLEM of your diabetes!

- Trevor K. Neuman