Before
& After:
14 Patients Share Their Experiences /
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J.L.F.
is seventy-one years old and has three grandchildren.
He still works as a financial consultant, and was
a naval aviator in World War II. His blood sugars
are currently controlled by diet, exercise, and pills
called oral hypoglycemic agents. Thanks to the diet
described in this book, his cholesterol/HDL ratio,
an index of heart disease risk (see page 51), has
dropped from a very high risk level of 7.9 to a below-average
level of 3.0. His hemoglobin A1C test, which reflects
average blood sugar for the prior four months, has
dropped from 10.1 percent (very high) to 5.6 percent
(nearly in the nondiabetic range). His R-R interval
study (see Chapter 2), an indicator of injury to nerves
that control heart rate, has progressed from an initial
value of 9 percent variation (very abnormal) to a
current value of 33 percent, which is normal for his
age.
"I
probably had mild diabetes for most of my adult life
without realizing it. It first appeared as lethargy,
later as fainting, stumbling, or falling, but as rare
occurrences. I also had difficulty attaining full
erection of my penis.
"In
early 1980, I began to experience dizziness, sweating,
arm pains, tendencies to fainting, and the symptoms
usually associated with heart problems. An angiogram
revealed severe disease of the arteries that supplied
my heart. I therefore had surgery to open up these
arteries. All was well for the next seven years, and
I again enjoyed good health.
"In
late 1985, I began to notice a loss of feeling in
my toes. My internist diagnosed it as neuropathy probably
due to high blood sugar. He did the usual blood test,
and my blood sugar was 400. His advice was to watch
my diet, especially to avoid sweets. I returned for
another checkup in 30 days. My blood sugar was 350.
Meanwhile, my neuropathy was increasing, along with
the frequency of visits. My blood test results were
consistently at the 350 level, my feet were growing
more numb, and I was becoming alarmed.
"I felt okay physically,
walked at least two miles a day, worked out in the
gym once or twice a week, worked a full schedule as
a business consultant, and didn't worry a great deal
about it. But I did begin to inquire of friends and
acquaintances about any knowledge or experience they
might have relative to neuropathy or diabetes.
"My
first jolt came from a story from one of my friends
who had diabetes, foot neuropathy, deep nerve pain
in his feet, and a nonhealing ulcer on a toe. He told
me that as the neuropathy progressed, amputation of
the feet was likely, elaborating by describing the
gruesome 'salami surgery' of unchecked diabetes.
"That's when I became
emotionally unglued, as they say. One thing about
aging and disease, you think a great deal about the
utter horror of becoming a cripple, dependent upon
others for your mobility. Suddenly foot numbness is
no longer a casual matter, more like a head-on crash
into reality.
"Then I met a wealthy
car dealer at the golf club, with his legs cut off
as high as legs go, who explained he hadn't paid too
much attention to his diabetes at the time and his
doctor couldn't help him. He could never leave his
chair, except for relief and sleep, and he had to
be lifted for that. Oh, he was cheerful enough. He
joked that they would cut him off at the middle of
his butt the next time, that is, if he didn't die
first. A display of courage to others was a macabre
nightmare to me. I got serious about getting someone,
somewhere, to tell me what to do about my ever-worsening
numbness, which by now had spread to my penis. My
condition became an ever-present, gnawing anxiety
with me, a creeping presence I couldn't fight against
because I simply didn't know how to fight it.
"Then,
in early April 1986, my wife and I went to visit Dr.
Bernstein. The first visit lasted 71/2 hours. Each
detail of diagnosis and treatment was discussed. Each
symptom of the disease, however minute, was described
in great detail, the importance of each balanced with
another, with specific remedies for managing them.
Take the seemingly insignificant matter of scaly feet,
a common, dangerous symptom of diabetes. Dr. B. prescribes
mink oil, rubbed into the feet morning and night.
Practiced as directed, instead of split skin and running
foot sores, you have skin as soft and smooth as velvet.
Consider the alternative—feet split, painful, and
slow (if at all) to heal—which can change your entire
life. Special shoes, debilitating gait, not to mention
the horrible possibility of progressive amputation;
all things that really can happen if your diabetes
is not treated properly.
"What is of highest
importance, I believe, is the in-depth explanation
of diabetes, its causes, symptoms, and treatment.
He gives you the rationale for treatment, so that
you have a comprehensive understanding of what is
wrong and how it can be corrected.
"First, through frequent
finger-stick blood testing, we came to an understanding
as to the specifics of how to attack my diabetes.
We started with diet. It wasn't just eat this, don't
eat that, but eat this for these reasons and eat that
for other reasons. Know the reasons and the differences.
Knowing the how and why of diet keeps you on the track,
and the discipline of that knowledge makes control
easy. For without continuous diet observance, you
will surely worsen your diabetes. He explains that
the effect of uncontrolled diabetes on the heart can
be much more deleterious than the other popular demons—cholesterol,
fat in the diet, stress, tension, et cetera—demons
not to be ignored, obviously, but merely put into
proper perspective to the main villain—diabetes.
"Well,
the results for me are the numbness of my feet and
penis have regressed, and my erections have improved.
My feet are now beautifully supple and healthy. The
severe belching, flatulence, and heartburn after meals
have disappeared. The other ills of diabetes have
apparently not greatly affected me, and now that I
know that controlling my diabetes is the key to a
healthy heart, I expect to reduce greatly any future
risk of heart attacks.
"One great result
of my ability to normalize my blood sugars has been
the stabilizing of my emotional attitude toward the
disease. I no longer have a sense of helplessness
in the face of it; no longer wonder what to do; no
longer feel hopelessly dependent on people who have
no answers to my problems. I feel free to exercise,
walk vigorously, enjoy good health without worry,
enjoy my precious eyesight without fear of diabetic
blindness, yes, even have a new confidence in normal
sexual activities.
"All of the enjoyments
of health that were slowly ebbing away are now within
my control, and for that I thank my new knowledge
and skills."
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