What You Should Know About Diabetes and Survival Planning Part Two

I received Diabetes 911 by Larry A. Fox M.D and Sandra L. Weber M.D in the mail. I found it very instructive, especially Chapter 8, “Severe Weather and Natural Disasters”. The chapter builds from previous chapters as the authors put together a “Disaster Preparedness Kit” and “Tips for Evacuation”.

They recommend pretty much a 30 day supply of everything, from medications to vital supplies including “Urine ketone strips and blood ketone test strips” which I find very valuable because you need a physical backup besides your glucose meter. I highly recommend this books as well as the other two I mentioned above.

Diabetes 911’s chapter 8 deals with supplies which are assumed to be replenished after the crisis is over. The supply train is assumed interrupted temporarily and the hope is that the kit will get the person through the crisis until supply is resumed and medications are again available. So the interventions listed in chapter 8 are standard, prudent interventions within the guidelines of sound medical practice. It has a light at the end of the tunnel so to speak- severe weather and natural disasters are not going to last forever. Help will be on the way.

“Severe Weather and Natural Disasters” can occur quite often. It can happen in multiple forms many times a year. Diabetes 911 is a must read because of recurrent natural disasters, so Diabetes 911 is timely and should be consulted by any diabetic.

The End of the World As We Know It scenarios are extremely rare. Their rarity makes them paralyzing in nature, rupturing the social infrastructure beyond six months to years. Chapter 8 of Diabetes 911 does not address such a scenario because we are more likely to face severe weather, and natural disasters on a routine basis.

So I would place more weight on Diabetes 911 than I would contemplating a rupturing of society’s infrastructure. However, even though a rare event, one cannot ignore the fact that The End Of The World As We Know It could happen in a form unknown to us at present time. So I will turn my attention to such a scenario as it relates to diabetes.

As you read in Part 1, diabetes is a serious disease with the potential for serious complications. Type 2 and Type 1 require medication and a diabetic diet. If society melts down beyond six months diabetics would face a severe challenge which would result in many deaths. As the crisis deepens without any replenishment of medications and supplies, deaths would increase exponentially. This is a fact as serious as I can present it if the loss of our societal infrastructure occurs. It includes the inability for pharmaceutical labs to manufacture medications for Type 2 diabetics and insulin for Type 1s.

So what could be done?

The first thing Type 2 diabetics could do NOW is to become very familiar with the diabetic diet and diabetic menu plans. (Type 1s will be discussed below.) Understanding nutrition as it relates to diabetes is an important start because diabetics, like everyone else have to eat every day. Diabetics have to stick to an eating schedule even more rigidly to keep blood sugar under control. You could start by reading this link and expand from there.

Before discussing what will happen in a world without insulin for Type 1s, I have to explain what insulin is. Insulin is a hormone manufactured by the islets of Langerhans in the pancreas. Today, insulin is mass produced in pharmaceutical labs using recombinant DNA techniques. In layman’s terms, insulin opens the gates of the cell allowing glucose ( a cell fuel) to enter.

How insulin works: The cell has receptor sites (approximately 20,000 per healthy cell). The insulin hormone docks on a cell receptor site just like a spaceship and this facilitates the uptake of glucose in the blood into the cell. Without insulin glucose would remain in the blood stream and the cell would basically starve.

This concept is very important for you to remember.

In a condition called Metabolic Syndrome (pre-diabetes) a person develops the following: 1. High insulin levels; 2. Excess fat around the internal organs (person is apple shaped, with fat around the middle); 3. High blood pressure; 4. High triglycerides; 5. High LDL; 6. Low HDL (good cholesterol); 7. Impaired glucose tolerance. All of these are high risk for cardiovascular disease.

As the Metabolic Syndrome progresses, the insulin producing cells in the pancreas eventually tire out, producing a lower amount of insulin. The Metabolic Syndrome patient enters Type 2 diabetes, necessitating oral antidiabetic medications which stimulates the islet cells in the pancreas to produce more insulin.

If life style is not changed and body fat/weight is not reduced the patient will eventually graduate to Type 1 diabetes. At that point, the islet cells cease to produce insulin. Insulin must be supplied from an outside source through injections.

In a Metabolic Syndrome, an overweight individual will have a decreased amount of receptor sites on each cell, from 20,000 per cell to about 5,000. This forces more glucose circulating the blood which is sent to the liver to be converted into glycogen and the excess glucose after that is then stored into fat. It creates a vicious cycle until the islet cells in the pancreas decrease the amount of insulin.

In a situation where the insulin supply would be disrupted past 90 days (and that’s being generous) due to a societal collapse, Type 1 diabetics would start to die off. Those with advanced diabetic conditions would die first, followed by mid to early Type 1s.

I’m not going to mince my word here: Even though there are herbs which lower blood sugar, there is nothing out there except insulin to facilitate glucose’s entry into a cell. Without insulin, the cell starves; the person becomes sicker until coma and death are the final outcome. The sudden loss of available insulin would account for Type 1 deaths within a very short span. Type 2 diabetics may fare better for a while.

There are herbs which lower blood sugar and stimulate the pancreas. (Such herbs would not help Type 1 diabetics: their pancreases have ceased to produce insulin). Type 2 diabetics might reverse their disease by life style changes, diet modification and weight loss, thus restoring the pancreas to normal function. However I want to caution you with the following:

Many Type 2 diabetics will also die because of stress, severe diet fluctuations, loss of medications and the hit and miss aspect of herbal remedies. Herbal treatment is not an exact science.

Many herbs have serious side effects. Many Type 2 diabetics will die of complications relating to Type 2 (cardiovascular events for example). So being a Type 2 does not guarantee survival.

Look at it this way: It’s like a military combat situation called a delaying action. A squad of ten highly trained infantrymen are up against an enemy battalion. The squad is pursued and sets up ambush sites. The squad initially succeeds in taking out a lot of enemy soldiers.

The squad retreats and sets up another ambush site. Eventually, the squad loses men, and runs low on ammo. The squad will have to pool resources and distribute their men differently, but soon the enemy will overwhelm the squad. Perhaps one squad member migh
t vanish in the woods and escape. He might survive if he eventually gets to friendly lines. Herbal remedies for lowering blood sugar do exist as this link demonstrates.

However, I want you to start thinking like a scientist. Ask yourself some important questions as you research this topic:

* What is the active substance in a particular herb which causes a blood sugar lowering effect?
* How does the molecule look like? What are the active sites of the molecule?
* Can you trace how the molecule effects the change metabolically in the body?
* What are the serious side effects of the herb? Do other herbs potentiate or cancel out its effects?
* If a site states “clinical trials were conducted” ask yourself: Who conducted the clinical trials? Where is the scientific paper?

Also, never take a blood sugar lowering herb while taking prescription antidiabetic medications or insulin. If you do two things will occur: one, you will interfere with the precise dose of your prescription medications. And two, you risk precipitating a hypoglycemic (low blood sugar) event. Don’t do it.

As I mentioned above, herbal remedies are not precise; there is a lot of hit and miss, and the sought after effects may not pan out as expected. Many claims for herbal usage are motivated by sales. Companies which make such claims want to sell their products.

Unfortunately, as listed above, a lot of technical information is left out such as the direct physiological action of the herb’s active chemical/molecule. Claims are listed with statements of “clinical trials” without backing up where the clinical trials were conducted or by whom.

This leaves the end user, who is serious with herbals, to conduct in depth research. This is only prudent when introducing a substance in your body and expecting a maximum result.

I don’t reject herbals as you might surmise from my comments. Most of our modern medicines came from plants. It’s just that it takes a lot of research and years of patient cataloguing before one can be an adept in herbal practice to include knowing how to make herbal tinctures. Plants can help and they can also kill.

An overdose of the foxglove plant can cause fatal cardiac results. Juniper berries, which lower blood sugar, should not be taken by patients with kidney disease; juniper berries should not be used long term because they can irritate the kidneys. These are just examples, and if you don’t know what you’re doing you could cause more harm than good.

I also want to emphasize that herbals should never be used while taking prescription medications until it is determined that the herb is safe to use with that medication by a physician.

Insulin is a hormone, a protein, and cannot be replaced by something else. Its action is unique, and its main function is to facilitate glucose into the cell. The loss or supply incurring the loss of insulin to type 1 diabetics will result in a fatal outcome. The book Diabetes 911 suggests a personal supply of 30 days; it is assumed that by day 30 supply will be returned. I can’t see a good outcome past 30 days. If six months go by with no supply all insulin dependent diabetics will be dead. There is no use to pad the situation with false hope.

I have discussed in both parts of Survival Diabetes how serious Type 2 and Type 1 are and I hope that the information presented was helpful. The three books suggested, especially Diabetes 911 by Larry A. Fox, M.D and Sandra L. Weber. M.D are an excellent resource for both Type 2 and Type 1. Diabetes 911 presents very clear instructions and Chapter 8 is invaluable relating to “Severe Weather and Natural Disasters”. Unfortunately, emergency preparedness in Diabetes 911 does not extend past 30 days.

This is due to the assumption that supply will be resumed post disaster and that homeostasis will be re-established in the affected area. It is assumed that the national and international supply chain will eventually catch up with re-supply and that those affected will have their medications and supplies restarted. Thus, 30 days was chosen as the magic number by the authors based on previous experience.

Any supply interruption past 30 days becomes problematic. Supply interruption past 90 days to six months becomes critical. I discussed the seriousness of insulin loss to Type 1 diabetics in graphic terms, explaining the physiological action of insulin and how critical it is to life. Type 2 diabetics themselves would be in grave danger as medications for hypertension, cardiac, and other diseases ceases as manufacturing and supply stop due to The End Of The World As We Know It scenario.

Not only diabetics would be affected. Cardiac patients who depend on critical cardiac medications would die. Millions would die as well from simple pneumonia to other types of infections. The first die off, though, would be those who depend on critical medications for survival.

We don’t realize how fragile we really are until we put in perspective the removal of critical drugs from our society. The entire concept of medicine in a The End Of The World As We Know could fill a major book and even then, many questions would remain unanswered.

The one thing I can suggest is prevention, staying fit and staying healthy. Staying healthy means eliminating bad habits like drinking too much alcohol and smoking. Strengthening your immune system by exercise and good nutrition will place you in the top tier of those who would survive a complete wipe out. And even that group will suffer casualties.

Perhaps Darwin was right in some things when he suggested that survival of the fittest rules in the natural world. We can see it today as our knowledge of genetics increases. Why is Joe, who is 98 years old, a pack a day smoker since he was 16, and a heavy drinker still alive?

In Joe’s case it could be genetics; his great grandmother on his father’s side may have died when she was 103. We don’t have all of the answers. But we know this: that a healthy lifestyle will extend your life in this society. It would definitely be an advantage if society’s infrastructure collapses completely.