DIABETES AND HOMEOPATHY
Disclaimer: this article is for education purposes only. It is not meant to diagnose or treat diabetes. Please consult your doctor before taking or changing any medication or if you suspect you might have diabetes.
DO YOU HAVE DIABETES?
Many people walk around with the symptoms without even suspecting they may have diabetes.
Before we go into the symptoms, it is important to know the difference between the three type of diabetes: type 1, type 2 and gestetional diabetes.
DIABETES TYPE 1
All types of diabetes are about the inability of the body to metabolise carbohydrates. In diabetes 1 the pancreas cannot produce enough insulin, which is the hormone that helps break down carbs and control the level of sugar in the blood. This causes the level of blood sugar to get too high.
symptoms include:
-feeling constantly thirsty
-fatigue
-frequent urination especially at night
-losing weight
-cuts and wounds take a long time to heal
-blurred vision
Diagnosis is done with urine and blood tests.
This type of diabetes is usually managed with insulin and is considered a life long condition. However, there are a few myths that surround diabetes 1:
-eating too much sugar can give you diabetes? No, it has nothing to do with that.
-you cannot eat any sugar if you are diabetic? No: you should in fact make sure you have enough glucose at all times, but it has to be in moderation and balanced out by your insuling medication.
DIABETES 2
This type of diabetes is directly linked with body weight or, more precisely, BMI: body mass index, which can be measured. A BMI of over 30 you are considered obese. However, many people have a congenital condition called “fatty liver”, which means that they may be slim and still develop diabetes 2. People who are clinically obese and have diabetes 2 are diagnosed with a condition called diabesity.
So what happens in diabetes 2? In this case, the panreas is resistant to the insulin received or does not produce enough of it.
The symptoms are the same as those of diabetes 1, however, as the system is insulin resistant, the treatment in traditional western medicine is different and involves various drugs.
GESTATIONAL DIABETES
As the name suggests, this is a temporary condition that can arise during pregnancy.
CAN HOMEOPATHY AND NUTRITION HELP?
Homeopthic remedies like Helonias or Iodum can help support the pancreas. As homeopathy treats the individual and not the condition, it is important to consider the totality of the symptoms in every patient, in order to identify the remedy that fits the general constitution. Every condition can be aggravated by stress, which in turn can make the patient even more stressed out or depressed, thereby lowering the immune system more in an endless vicious circle!
In addition to that, a healthy diet and lifestyle, including regular gentle excercise, can help the pancreas release more insulin naturally and reduce the general stress the patient is under. Losing weight when necessary, is beneficial for the whole body, including the heart, as well as giving a general sense of overall wellness.
IT DOESN’T HAVE TO BE A LIFE SENTENCE
A few years ago, I happened to watch a tv programme, one of those “reality shows” where a famous UK fitness coach encouraged a group of people to try his exercise and diet regime for a few weeks. One of the participants happened to have type 2 diabetes and had to take about a dozen pills every day. She was also quite overweight. By the end of the series, as you can guess, she had not only lost quite a few pounds (following a healthy diet that didn’t count calories but just made sure the food was fresh and not processed) but was also able (under medical supervision) to reduce her medication by half!
MY FIRST CASE OF DIABETES
This really got me thinking. And then I had a case of my own of type 1 diabetes: remember, the type that needs to take insuling every day.
After about six months of constitutional care and diet intervention, she no longer needs to take insulin! When she went back to her doctor, she was tested again in hospital and the official medical consensus was that she “must have been misdiagnosed” in the first place! Never mind the fact that she had been taking insulin since childhood and had gone for regular check ups all her life…No matter. I was just happy for my patient and now I know that natural therapies can help a lot for diabetes and diabesity!
For more info on diabetes, weight gain and diabesity, click here
