Why did the insulin die in my pancreas?

Curiosity is a symptom of human nature.

I’m the first to admit, that when I was new to researching ways to help Lance via the internet, I was inquisitive about the advertisements that claim to be able to cure Diabetes.

“The info Doctors Don’t Want You To Know.”

Whilst I am very open to a healthy balance of Western Medicine and alternative treatments, I am alarmed and frightened by some current advertising material cirulating around the internet.

I have had a Director of a “Wellness Centre” contact me, giving me a guarantee that he could CURE Lance’s Type 1 Diabetes through fasting.

I have no doubt that there are some establishments that reap fantastic results with weight loss and increasing fitness with those who live with Type 2 Diabetes, no matter if they manage their condition through diet and exercise, oral medication or insulin. I have witnessed sessions in a current trial that involves weight training for people over 60 with Type 2 Diabetes; as a result, their alarming blood sugar levels have dramatically decreased, as has their weight, their cholesterol and in some cases, their depression. I was highly impressed with what I saw, and the fact that the participants wanted to continue returning indicated that they were feeling better in themselves also.

So, when I received an email, informing me of two people with Type 1 Diabetes suddenly having natural insulin function again through a “fasting” regime, I put it down to a common mistake-people often assume that because a person is on insulin injections that they have Type 1 Diabetes. I replied and thanked the author of the email for their concern, but informed him that my son’s pancreas no longer makes insulin. Over. Kaput. Finito. We exist on a lifestyle of frequent injections and a carefully prepared diet and exercise program. I expected that to be that.

However, I soon received more correspondence from the same person. He went on to say that doctors basically have no idea what they are doing when they make a diagnosis such as Type 1 Diabetes, and that he guaranteed that if I invested in his program,that my son would regain full insulin function. Through fasting.

He went on to say that the body had the ability to heal itself, no matter what the condition may be. He was positive, from what he had read from my posts, that he could “kickstart” Lance’s pancreas into producing insulin again.

“No more injections, Kate!! Can you imagine the freedom?”

He went on to say that Heart Disease and Cancer were not the leading causes of death in the United States, but from errors in diagnoses made by doctors. He then said that if, I decided to participate, and join the program, that my 7 year old son would have to fast for over a week. I sat in sheer horror, as my mind envisaged what ramifications would occur if I actually allowed that to happen!!

The rest of the email was bagging Western Medicine, and jam packed full of claims that Diabetes isn’t this big, scary disease that people make it out to be, and that it is totally treatable and curable. I was irritated, but I soon became enraged when I imagined this person contacting the mother of a newly diagnosed child, or a young married woman seeing her husband off at the “Wellness Centre” imagining how their life could change if he was cured. Or a teenager, whose hormones had reaked havoc with every facet of their life, inluding their blood sugar levels, heading off to commence this program in desperation.

The terrifying part is that the claims in this spiel were impressive enough for someone who wasn’t totally aware of their condition to say, “I can be cured! It’s a miracle!”

I guess I’m giving a serious warning to those who step outside the lines and look for alternate methods of healing-when it comes to Type 1 Diabetes- STOP NOW. Fasting and Type 1 Diabetes is like giving a huge slice of pie laced with crushed peanuts to someone with a deadly peanut allergy. Never doubt that your Diabetes Health Professionals have your best interests in mind.

As hard as it is to see it written, THERE IS NO CURE OR MIRACULOUS FIX FOR TYPE 1 DIABETES.

Fasting will see you in the grasp of severe hypoglycaemia within a few hours, and, diabetic coma is around the very next corner. The worst possible scenario is that you will no longer be a member of the Wellness Program, because your family will be organising your funeral.

If you are contacted by ANYBODY making claims that they can guarantee a cure for Type 1 Diabetes, ignore it, or better still, report it.

These companies are advertising and promoting themselves on email sites as I write, and, as a person who cares passionately and intensely for every person who has to live with this condition, I can understand how appealing it would be to say, “Hey, what the heck. Can’t hurt to see what it’s all about? It’s not like there’s a cure anywhere in near sight..”

It’s so evil to entice people who live with Type 1 Diabetes to risk their lives that they fight so hard to live.

Be warned; there are different variations on the same theme, it’s not just the person that contacted me, there are others’ also who have jumped on the same boat, and are promising something that can never happen.

We all have had an ordinary or infuriating experience with an unfamiliar doctor, or in an emergency ward at a hospital. However, remember the doctor who diagnosed you or your child.. without their understanding of the endocrine system, the symptoms of Type 1 Diabetes, and administering that first injection back into an insulin-starved body…

I shudder to think what could happen.

It’s great to explore and learn more about Diabetes through others, however, I implore of you to trust any suspicion you may have, and stick to reading the many awe-inspiring blogs, written by carers or people who live with Type 1 Diabetes. They are the true experts.