Diabetes in Ghana: Orthodox Medicine Losing the War 1

Growing up in a small village called Suhum-Amanhia; I saw how diabetes afflicted and tormented my grandmother to the point of death. It was a pathetic story!

Diabetes in Ghana.
In 2015, according to the graphic online, about 2.5 million Ghanaians are said to be living with diabetes, with 73 per cent of them unaware or undiagnosed. Majority of these people are between the ages of 15 and 45 years. The report was made during the launched of a website that enables people to find out about the risk level of getting diabetes. The website, [ www.diabetes.merck-africa.com ], allows individuals to provide basic information about themselves to determine whether they stand a high risk of getting the disease.

The Pulse.com also reported in 2016 that About 4 million Ghanaians are living with diabetes; the Ghana Diabetes Association has revealed via www.pulse.com.gh/.../diabetes-in-ghana-about-million-ghanaians-are-living-with-diab...

Recently, according to myjyonline, Ghana has been ranked sixth among other Africa countries, according to statistics by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on diabetes between 2016 and 2017. The Chairperson of International Diabetes Federation of West Africa, also President of National Diabetes Association of Ghana, Elizabeth Esi Denyoh, who made this known at the commemoration of the 2017 World Diabetes Day at Kyebi in the East Akim Municipality of the Eastern Region, explained that it is estimated that undiagnosed diabetes accounts for 60 percent of those with the disease in Cameroon, 70 percent in Ghana and over 80 percent in Tanzania. She said Ghana, among other Africa countries, counts approximately 13.6 million people with diabetes, which includes sub-Saharan Africa counts over seven million people with diabetes. According to her, Nigeria has the highest number of 1,218,000 diabetes cases, followed by Uganda and Tanzania.

Other part of the world
i. In the US, about 80 million, or one in four, has some form of diabetes or pre-diabetes. Even worse, more than one-third of British adults are now pre-diabetic.

ii. In 2003, 11.6 percent of Britons had pre-diabetes. By 2011, that figure had more than tripled, reaching 35.3 percent.

iii. Between 2001 and 2009, incidence of type 1 diabetes among American children under the age of 19 rose by 21 percent. Incidence of type 2 diabetes among children aged 10-19 rose by 30 percent

iv. Type 2 diabetes is a disease rooted in insulin resistance and perhaps more importantly, a malfunction of leptin signaling, caused by chronically elevated insulin and leptin levels

v. One of the driving forces behind type 2 diabetes is excessive dietary fructose, which has adverse effects on insulin and leptin, so it’s important to address the fructose and other sugars in your diet that come in many forms

vi. A growing body of research suggests there’s a powerful connection between your diet and your risk of both Alzheimer's disease and glaucoma, via similar pathways that cause type 2 diabetes

Orthodox Medicine Losing the War ….
Review from the Ghana analysis point to very important facts: First, it proves that diabetes cannot be primarily caused by genetics, and secondly, it accurately cries that something we're doing constantly is wrong, and it is time to find solution. Today, modernized world; we eat like king but we are dying of malnutrition partly because of what I termed as the used of ‘chemical farming’ and other unhealthy lifestyle.

In this case, that "something" is a seriously flawed diet and lack of physical activity. Unfortunately, Dr. Ron Rosedale wrote in 2005, doctors cause diabetics to D.I.E from their flawed prescriptions, which stem from a basic lack of insight into the root cause of this disease. D.I.E., here, is a clever acronym for "Doctor Induced Exacerbation," which does indeed include early death.

Conventional medicine has type 2 diabetes nailed as a problem with blood sugar rather than the fundamental problem of inappropriate insulin and leptin signaling. The reality is that diabetes is a disease rooted in insulin resistance and perhaps more significantly, a malfunction of leptin signaling, caused by chronically elevated insulin and leptin levels. This is why the medical community's approach to its treatment is not getting anywhere. Treating type 2 diabetes with insulin is actually one of the worst things you can do...says Dr. Mercola.

Recent research has come to the same conclusions that Dr. Rosedale warned us about nearly a decade ago, which is that treating type 2 diabetes with insulin can lead further to the development of type 1 diabetes. And, not only are conventionally-trained doctors wrong about the cause of the disease, but they continue to pass along seriously flawed nutritional information as well, which allows the disease to increase to epidemic proportions.

Terms Explanation
Before we proceed and look at treatments for diabetes and potential causes. Let have alook at the difference between type 1 and type 2, and the development of what some are now referring to as "type 3" diabetes. The terms "pre-diabetes" and "metabolic syndrome" also need to be explained.

• Pre-diabetes, also known as impaired glucose tolerance is a term used to describe an earlier state of progressing insulin resistance. It is conventionally diagnosed by having a fasting blood sugar between 100 and 125 mg/dl.

Pre-diabetes is very easy to turn around. Basically changing processed foods for whole organic foods lower in sugar and sugar-forming carbohydrates combined with a few minutes of daily exercise will quickly put you on the road to reversing this condition.

• Metabolic syndrome. As your insulin resistance progresses, your liver makes too much sugar and fat, and your skeletal muscles are less able to burn them and make glycogen, which is how glucose is stored in your muscles and liver. In turn, there is an increase in sugar and fats in your bloodstream which leads to high triglyceride levels and increased body fat--especially abdominal fat, and higher blood pressure.

Having 3 or more of a group of symptoms caused by insulin (and now we also know leptin) resistance -- high triglycerides, low HDL, higher blood glucose and blood pressure, and increased belly fat—is referred to as metabolic syndrome (in the past it was called Syndrome X).

• Type 1: insulin-dependent diabetes. Conventionally, type 1 diabetes cultivates before the age of 20. It used to be relatively rare, but as stated before, it has gradually increased in recent times. Type 1 diabetes is typically an autoimmune disease in which your immune system destroys the insulin-producing cells of your pancreas, resulting in an inability to produce any significant insulin which that, if left untreated, will cause death in days to weeks from a hyperglycemic coma. This deficiency of insulin is why type 1 is called "insulin-dependent" diabetes. There is currently no known way to completely reverse this; says Mercola.

Nevertheless recent research suggests some kind of hope. For instance, Columbia University scientists claim that by turning off a particular gene, human gut cells can be converted into cells that produce insulin in response to dietary sugar.

• Type 2: non-insulin-dependent diabetes. In type 2 diabetes, the pancreas is producing some insulin, in fact usually too much, but is unable to recognize the insulin and use it properly. This is an advanced stage of insulin resistance, which is typically caused by a diet that is too high in sugars and sugar-forming foods. When you have inadequate insulin signaling, sugar cannot get into your cells and instead builds up in your blood. While anyone can get type 2 diabetes, you are typically considered at highest risk if you are overweight, sedentary, if you are a woman who had gestational diabetes, have family members with type 2 diabetes, or have metabolic syndrome. However, all of these really have the same underlying root of insulin and leptin resistance.

Type 2 diabetes represents the vast majority of all diabetics, and contrary to conventional medical and media teaching, it's nearly 100 percent curable through lifestyle changes alone (if these are instituted before conventional medical therapy/drugs kills the cells in the pancreas that makes insulin, causing type 1 diabetes too

'Insulin Therapy May Do More Harm Than Good'

A study published in the June 30, 2014 issue of JAMA Internal Medicine concluded what Dr. Rosedale has been saying for two decades, that insulin therapy in type 2 diabetic patients may indeed do more harm than good. As reported by Medical News Today:

"In the US, type 2 diabetes is diagnosed when hemoglobin A1c levels reach 6.5 percent or higher. The higher A1c levels are, the greater the risk of other health problems. Sometimes the condition can be managed through changes in diet, but other patients with type 2 diabetes may need medication - such as insulin or metformin - to help lower their blood sugar levels, and ultimately, reduce the risk of diabetes complications.

But the researchers of this latest study... claim that the benefits of such treatment - particularly for people over the age of 50 - may not always outweigh the negatives. 'In many cases, insulin treatment may not do anything to add to the person's quality life expectancy,' says study co-author John S. Yudkin... 'If people feel that insulin therapy reduces their quality of life by anything more than around 3-4 percent, this will outweigh any potential benefits gained by treatment in almost anyone with type 2 diabetes over around 50 years old.'

For example, they estimate that a person with type 2 diabetes who begins insulin therapy at age 45 and lowers their hemoglobin A1c levels by 1 percent may experience an extra 10 months of healthy life. But for a patient who starts treatment for type 2 diabetes at age 75, they estimate the therapy may only gain them an additional 3 weeks of healthy life. The researchers say this prompts the question - is 10-15 years of pills or injections with possible side effects worth it?"

Emerging new term: Type 3 Diabetes, or 'Brain Diabetes,' Could Be Accountable for Alzheimer's disease and Glaucoma

A growing body of research suggests there's a powerful connection between your diet and your risk of both Alzheimer's disease and glaucoma, via similar pathways that cause type 2 diabetes. Alzheimer's disease was tentatively dubbed "type 3 diabetes" in early 2005 when researchers learned that the pancreas is not the only organ that produces insulin. Your brain also produces insulin, and this brain insulin is necessary for the survival of your brain cells.

A drop in insulin production in your brain may contribute to the degeneration of your brain cells, and studies have found that people with lower levels of insulin and insulin receptors in their brain often have Alzheimer's disease. Researchers have now discovered that insulin does far more than simply regulating blood sugar. Your brain does not require glucose, and actually functions better burning alternative fuels, especially ketones. In fact, Dr. Rosedale believes that it is the constant burning by the brain of glucose that is primarily to blame for Alzheimer's and other brain disorders

Insulin is actually a "master multitasker" that helps with neuron glucose-uptake, and the regulation of neurotransmitters, like acetylcholine, which are crucial for memory and learning. This is why reducing the level of insulin in your brain impairs your cognition. Other research shows that type 2 diabetics lose more brain volume with age than expected—particularly gray matter. This kind of brain atrophy is yet another contributing factor for dementia. "Brain diabetes" may also be responsible for glaucoma, according to recent research. As reported by Medical News Today:

"Researchers [in India]... have proposed a new mechanism of glaucoma which suggests that diabetes can occur in the brain and may be the cause of many neurodegenerative disorders including glaucoma... an irreversibly blinding disorder with almost 65 million sufferers worldwide. There is no cure...

The recent paper titled 'Glaucoma: Diabetes of the brain - a radical hypothesis about its nature and pathogenesis', published in Medical Hypotheses... explore glaucoma and related neurodegenerative diseases from many perspectives and come up with a multifaceted and internally coherent concept of glaucoma being 'the diabetes of the brain.'"

It's becoming increasingly clear that the same pathological process that leads to insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes may also hold true for your brain. As you over-indulge on sugar and grains, your brain becomes overwhelmed by the consistently high levels of glucose and insulin that blunts its insulin signaling, leading to impairments in your thinking and memory abilities, eventually causing permanent brain damage.

Additionally, when your liver is busy processing fructose (which your liver turns into fat), it severely hampers its ability to make cholesterol, an essential building block of your brain that is crucial for optimal brain function. Indeed, mounting evidence supports the notion that significantly reducing fructose consumption is a very important step you can take to prevent Alzheimer's disease.