Curtis: Hi Ellis,

Curtis: You are 100% correct in your advice and Dr. Whittiker
is simply wrong.

My mother had a rare cancer that destroyed her kidneys. The cancer
was put into remission but she was on dialysis the last few years
of her life. When I went with her to treatment, I was shocked to
see the number of fairly young dialysis patients who had lost their
kidneys to untreated diabetes.

For many orthopedic surgeons in the US the most common procedure
is limb removal of diabetes patients.

The unfunded obligations of the US treasury is upwards of $100
TRILLION! As much as 30% of this is for future medicaid benefits
for people who want all of their medical care to come in an
easy-to-swallow pill.

The horrible diet of processed foods coupled with a sedentary
lifestyle and bad habits such as cigarette smoking is going to
inevitably bancrupt the country or will eventually force some
very difficult decisions. One such decision would be to not pay
for lifestyle related diseases including type 2 diabetes...


Ellis: Hello Curtis. A doctor should not give advice that is
popular with his patients, but not correct... he should give advice
that is correct, even if his patient doesn't like it... If the
patient will not follow the advice, then he should not waste his
money asking for advice that he is not going to follow.

And of course it is popular to say you don't have to check your
blood glucose several times each day, we will control you with
an HbA1c test every few months. But it is incorrect.

And it can't be done. An HbA1c will tell you if you have been
eating well, or poorly... but it won't help you to correct high
blood glucose when it happens, and that is what a diabetic (or
a non-diabetic) needs to do.

Thanks for writing, and I'm glad you agree with me.

- Ellis

2009/5/23 <patholly@...>

> Hi Ellis
>
> This is Pat RN MSN student nurse practitioner in Los Angeles-
> responding to Dr. Whittiker ...and Your conversation regarding
> diabetes testing.
>
> I understand Dr. Whittikers approach- and I also understand your
> approach. However You- and Dr. Whittikers patients are "different
> types" of patients.
>
> You are the "ideal" patient- who cares about the disease process-
> and wants to control it. BUT YOU ARE RARE.
>
> Dr. Whittiker deals with the non medical public that simply wants a
> "pill" once a day- they are NOT interested in really controlling
> the disease by adjusting their medications IMMEDIATELY based on
> blood results.
>
> Quite frankly- I think this is the best advice that Dr. WHittiker
> can give the general non medical public that simply doesn't care.
>
> Dr. Whittiker does not have patients LIKE YOU......or his advice
> would probably be different
>
> Pat RN MSN
>
> Ellis: Hello Pat... The problem is that Dr. Whittiker's message
> is not directed to the general non-medical public that simply
> doesn't care. His message that diabetes 2 is simple to manage is
> directed to Diabetes Type 2 patients. They are all sick, and
> they all have Diabetes 2.
>
> My advice that you should bring down your blood glucose whenever
> it is high is correct for persons with diabetes type 2, and for
> non-diabetics, and for persons with diabetes type 1, and everybody
> that still breathes...
>
> It is correct whether you are diabetic, or whether you are not
> diabetic.
>
> It is correct because every time that your blood glucose is above
> 100 mg/dl you are doing a little bit of damage to your body...
> and there is no other way to know it, other than to CHECK YOUR
> BLOOD GLUCOSE.
>
> For example... I am not diabetic... I checked my blood glucose and
> it was 108 mg/dl...
>
> Because I knew this, I acted... I injected 2 iu fast insulin and
> one hour later my blood glucose was 93... (it will continue to
> drop to about 85...) That is 15 points lower than 108, and it is
> 15 points lower in one hour...
>
> If I had not injected, my experience is that it would have been
> about 103 one hour later... If this was room temperature, just
> think how much better 93 degrees Fahrenheit is than 103 degrees
> Fahrenheit.
>
> So I saved my body a tiny bit, for one hour, one time... But I
> have done this same thing 15,000 times in 8 years.
>
> (You don't want to inject insulin? You are mistaken, but O.K.,
> don't inject insulin...
>
> But you should drink a glass of water, and you should do some
> exercise like walk around the block... and you should not eat
> anything else until your blood glucose is lower...)
>
> Ellis: Dr. Whittiker is referring to DIABETES PATIENTS... His
> patients that consult with him about diabetes ALL HAVE DIABETES...
>
> So he should be strict. The problem here is that Dr. Whittiker
> himself is TOO LENIENT on HIMSELF, so this makes him A BAD EXAMPLE
> for his patients to follow. Diabetes patients should not "mess
> around" they have to be strict on themselves or else they are going
> to suffer the consequence a few years later.
>
> In fact, that is precisely the problem with diabetes and blood
> glucose: you behave bad TODAY and you don't feel bad today... your
> PUNISHMENT comes MANY YEARS LATER... so there is very little
> connection between cause and effect, so it is difficult to see
> that there is a direct cause and effect.
>
> Dr. Whittiker is happy if his patients will live to age 80... I
> am NOT happy if his patients live to age 80, I want them to live
> to age 100... Some of his patients could have lived to age 100,
> but they will die at age 80, and he will feel he "did his job."
>
> But it isn't just living 20 years longer that is important... If
> you are going to live to age 80, you are already weak at age 75,
> and progressively weaker at age 76, 77, 78, and 79...
>
> If you might live to age 100 but you are killed by a truck at age
> 80, you were STRONG and HEALTHY when you were age 75, 76, 77, 78,
> 79, until the day you got killed at age 80.
>
> That's what's so important about being strict. You live better
> while you are still alive.
>
> Look at what Dr. Whittiker says:
>
> ==============Dr. Whittiker:
>
> Dr. Whittiker: The mistake doctors make is telling all their
> patients with type 2 diabetes whether they're on insulin or not
> to test daily and in many cases, to test multiple times a day.
>
> ==============
> Ellis: TO TEST MULTIPLE TIMES EACH DAY IS CORRECT ADVICE. Dr.
> Whittiker says it is "the mistake doctors make..." It is not
> a mistake... HE is making the mistake...
>
> ===========Dr. Whittiker:
>
> Dr. Whittiker: Not only is all that incessant testing unnecessary
> if you're not on insulin, it's debilitating. Think about it. When
> you test your blood sugar, do you make any changes in your treatment
> program?
>
> ================
>
> Ellis: What a dumb question to ask... OF COURSE YOU MAKE CHANGES
> IN YOUR TREATMENT! Absolutely. If not, there is no reason to
> check. Dr. Whitikker doesn't understand what testing is all
> about.
>
> ===============Dr. Whittiker:
>
> Dr. Whitaker: Do you use testing to identify foods that drive up
> blood sugar and eliminate them from your diet?
>
> ==============
> Ellis: Of course. YES!
>
> ==============Dr. Whittiker:
> Dr. Whitaker: Does testing alter your medication dosage? If not,
> what's the sense of it?
>
> Ellis: YES, OF COURSE IT DECIDES WHAT DOSE OF INSULIN I WILL TAKE,
> IF I DECIDE TO TAKE INSULIN. THE SENSE OF IT IS THAT I TAKE ACTION
> IMMEDIATELY TO BRING MY BLOOD GLUCOSE DOWN TO 80 OR 90 MG/DL.
>
> ELLIS: MY ADVICE TO DIABETES TYPE 2 PATIENTS: DO NOT GO TO THE
> WHITAKER WELLNESS INSTITUTE. THEY ARE GIVING YOU AN EASY PATH,
> AND THEY SMILE AND YOU THINK SUCH EASY ADVICE COMING FROM SUCH A
> GREAT DOCTOR MUST BE CORRECT... AND YOU WILL LIVE O.K. IF YOU TAKE
> THE EASY PATH FOR 20 OR 30 YEARS... AND THEN YOUR DIABETES WILL
> HAVE ADVANCED MUCH MORE THAN IF YOU HAD GONE TO SEE DR. BERNSTEIN
> WHO WANTS VERY STRICT GLUCOSE CONTROL.
>
> Dr. Whitaker: While a finger stick is a snapshot of your blood
> sugar at a given time, the A1C test gives a broader picture of
> average blood sugars over two or three months. This allows us to
> evaluate how well a patient's treatment program is working and
> to make adjustments, if necessary.
>
> ELLIS: THE PATIENT NEEDS A SNAPSHOT, TO TAKE ACTION IMMEDIATELY.
>
> THE BROADER PICTURE IS INTERESTING, AND IT HELPS TO EVALUATE HOW
> THE ENTIRE PROGRAM IS GOING, BUT IT CANNOT GIVE THE INFORMATION
> THE PATIENT NEEDS RIGHT AWAY TO TAKE ACTION TO BRING HIS BLOOD
> GLUCOSE TO HEALTHY LEVELS AS FAST AS POSSIBLE.
>
> Dr. Whitaker: Our "adjustments" don't include drugs. In fact, we
> wean virtually all patients off their oral diabetic medications.
> This is another "diabetes myth," that all patients need drugs to
> lower their blood sugar.
>
> ELLIS: THIS IS NOT A MYTH. THIS IS A FACT. DR. WHITAKER, LIKE
> MANY DOCTORS, THINKS THAT "NATURAL" IS BETTER... AND HE BELIEVES
> THAT TAKING INSULIN IS "NOT NATURAL"... HE IS SCARED OF INSULIN
> BECAUSE HE DOES NOT USE IT HIMSELF. EVERY DIABETES PATIENT SHOULD
> GO TO A DOCTOR WHO IS DIABETIC HIMSELF, AND WHO TAKES INSULIN
> HIMSELF. ANY OTHER DOCTOR PROBABLY DOES NOT UNDERSTAND INSULIN.
>
> I THINK MOST DOCTORS, INCLUDING DR. WHITAKER, SHOULD TAKE INSULIN
> HIMSELF, WHETHER OR NOT THEY ARE DIABETIC. NO MATTER WHAT YOU
> HAVE HEARD OR WHAT YOU HAVE READ, TAKING INSULIN IS VERY EASY,
> VERY SAFE, AND VERY GOOD FOR YOUR HEALTH, AND VERY VERY
> INEXPENSIVE.
>
> I AM NOT A DOCTOR, BUT I HAVE TAKEN PERHAPS 12,000 BLOOD GLUCOSE
> TESTS IN 8 YEARS, AND I HAVE INJECTED INSULIN 3 OR 4 OR 5 TIMES
> EVERY DAY FOR 8 YEARS, WHICH IS ABOUT 15,000 DOSES OF INSULIN
> WHICH BROUGHT DOWN MY BLOOD GLUCOSE FASTER THAN OTHERWISE... I
> AGREE ON MOST TOPICS (EXCEPT THAT I TAKE INSULIN AND I AM NOT
> A DIABETIC) WITH DOCTOR BERNSTEIN, WHO IS THE STRICTEST DOCTOR I
> KNOW.
>
> I HAVE SAID BEFORE: THE ONLY DOCTOR WHOSE ADVICE I FIND IS
> CORRECT IS DR. BERNSTEIN. IF ANOTHER DOCTOR HAS CORRECT ADVICE,
> HE PROBABLY LEARNED IT FROM DR. BERNSTEIN. IF ANOTHER DOCTOR
> DISAGREES WITH DOCTOR BERNSTEIN, INVARIABLY HE ALSO DISAGREES
> WITH ME, AS IN THIS CASE.
>
> DR. WHITAKER OFFERS HIS PATIENTS AN EASY ROAD, BUT THERE IS NO
> EASY ROAD. HE IS MISTAKEN TO BELIEVE THAT HB-A1C RESULTS CAN
> GIVE TIGHT BLOOD GLUCOSE CONTROL, OR THAT THIS IS ALL THAT IS
> NECESSARY. IT WORKS, FOR ABOUT 20 OR 30 YEARS, BECAUSE DIABETES
> ADVANCES SLOWLY... BUT I PREDICT THAT AT AGE 65 OR 70 HIS PATIENTS
> WILL ALL BE IN BIG TROUBLE. - ELLIS