July 2014

I have just done a piece on Statins which can be found on Healthinsightuk.org. I hope you enjoy another tale of “show me the money!”..please feel free to go to http://healthinsightuk.org/

What grinds me down is why , in the world of health, a declaration of interest seems to be a “get out of jail” card and appears to wipe the slate clean.

I simply can’t get my head around this at all.  Clearly we do want investment in drug discovery and health but we really need to ensure that those protecting the public interest are absolutely clean and free from dogma or rigged science. We need people who actually pride themselves on independence in every sense of the word.  We need those entrusted with our health choices to come with ” clean hands” . This is a super phrase that came from the old and now defunct Court of Equity, but the principals still apply in law.

If we had this introduced almost all those sitting on SACN would be removed and it appears that many of those sitting on  NICE committees would change.

There is more to come on conflicts of interest ……………..

Today NICE proudly announced that it have come up with a really good idea on how to help manage the diabetes crises in the UK and is proposing that we extend bariatric surgery. Well that is about as imaginative as a cold shower. To be fair Mark Baker did say that the first solution must be diet and exercise but didn’t go on to comment why that had failed so miserably. Of course the journalist on the BBC didn’t ask that question so why would Mark Baker bother to raise this whole issue?

And it is this lack on intellectual engagement by journalists and doctors (other than those like Aseem Mulholtra and a few others) into the issue of diet and exercise which confounds me. If something is not working, and the message of diet and exercise, which has been out there loudly for over 15 years, is not working, you have to ask why and accept that you may need to change your position.

There are numerous reasons why the current message of diet and exercise cannot overcome the current obesity and diabetes challenge and whilst many want to blame the lazy British public, the reality is that this solution is  NOT WORKING. Period. So when something is not working and it hasn’t been working for 15 years do you keep doing it again and again or do you do something different. As Einstein says – madness is doing the same thing again and again but expecting a different outcome.

And is the answer paying for more bariatric operations or is there another alternative? When you look at diabetes it is hard to believe that most intelligent people would not think that the obvious diet to recommend to a sufferer is a low starch low sugar diet rather than bariatric surgery.

So for all the SACN members and all the dieticians busy telling those with diabetics to eat more low fat starch let us just remind ourselves again what diabetes is.

The term “diabetes mellitus” describes a metabolic disorder of multiple aetiology characterized by chronic hyperglycaemia with disturbances of carbohydrate, fat and protein metabolism resulting from defects in insulin secretion, insulin action, or both. The effects of diabetes mellitus include long–term damage, dysfunction and failure of various organs (WHO 1999). 

The following is from ‘Biochemistry’ by Berg, Tymoczko & Stryer:

“The hallmark of type2 diabetes is insulin resistance. The beta cells of the pancreas secrete normal or even greater-than-normal amounts of insulin, but the tissues do not respond to the hormone despite the fact that the insulin receptor is functional”

And then let us remind ourselves of the foods that trigger the release of insulin…starch ( yes even the brown stuff) and sugar.  And so diabetes is a condition that will be aggravated by the intake of sugar and starch. Can humans live without sugar and starch? Yes they can. So why tell them to base their diet on these foods?

So I have this really novel idea…We suggest  an alternative to the low fat, low calorie option currently recommended by the BDA and the NHS. We suggest a low sugar low starch diet. Risks nil – likely positive outcome high and I have attached a reference to a recent study which support this view. ( Desperate GPs trying to find a way of helping their patients notwithstanding the BDA.)

It will be cheaper than £15,000 per OP and may prove itself to be a very effective way of managing diabetes without a waiting list of a doctor’s referral.

low carbohydrate diet to achieve weight loss and improve HbA1c in type two diabetes …Unwin Practical Diabetes VOL 31 NO2

Is it not hilarious (well would be if it was a black comedy fictional film) that we have a Sugar Reduction Summit today and the BDA are tweeting that sugar intake is not associated with insulin resistance where there is no weight gain. Lordy lord.

Sugar does NOT cause insulin resistance independent of weight gain: Luc Tappy Lausanne Uni, Switzerland #sugarsummit – STEVEN JENKINS

Frankly I think this has to be the BDAs finest hour.

This shows what a god awful mess we are in.  To make this statement is so misleading and so irrelevant it is deeply worrying. Or perhaps the BDA is getting money from the sugar lobby.

I would recommend that all diabetics (type 2) consider starting a legal action against the BDA for the advice they have been given over the past30 years . The loss suffered is the loss of eyesight, loss of limbs and generally a rotten old time.

Email [email protected] if you fancy a punt.