The headline sounds like something out of “the Onion”, but this is medical research for you.
A study comes out and shows that a minimal amount of exercise (less than three hours per week), and moderate caloric restriction (1200-1800 calories per day) cures one in nine people with type 2 diabetes. This is a study from the CDC and printed in the Journal of American Medical Association on December 14th, 2012. The participants reached normal blood sugar levels without medications. And in many cases were able to stop taking medication.
While an 11-12% cure rate is pretty poor in my experience, the participants in this study just restricted calories, not carbohydrates. Their exercise recommendations were the equivalent to mild aerobic exercise. In my experience, with a low carbohydrate intake and strenuous exercise, the cure rate goes to well over 95%.
So did I see my medical websites state: “Diet and exercise are safe and effective tools to cure type 2 diabetes?” No. Instead I read a response by Dr. John Buse of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine. He acknowledged that lifestyle intervention is beneficial to diabetes patients, but he questioned how it compared with other diabetes treatments. He told Reuters: “How cost effective is it, what are the long-term consequences (and) how would it really compare with alternative approaches like bariatric surgery and drug therapy?”
Here is the list of companies (I count 28) Dr. Buse has financial obligations toward. Now I not against his financial success, but we must realize that the “medical establishment” may not be looking out for our health and wellness. You make the call, who do you think this “medical expert” is speaking for?
Disclosure list from Medscape 2012: John B. Buse, MD, PhD, has disclosed the following relevant financial relationships:
Served as a director, officer, partner, employee, advisor, consultant, or trustee for: Amylin Pharmaceutical, Inc. Andromeda, Bayhill Therapeutics, Biodel, Boehringer Ingelheim, Catabasis, Diartis, Elcelyx, Eli Lilly and Co., Exsulin, GI Dynamics, Halozyme, Inc., Hoffman-LaRoche Inc., Johnson & Johnson, Lexicon, LipoScience, Medtronic MiniMed, Inc., Merck, Metabolon, Novan, Novo Nordisk Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Osiris Therapeutics, Inc., Orexigen, Pfizer, Inc., sanofi-aventis, Tolerex, Transition Therapeutics, TransPharma
Moral of this story? As Deep Throat said to Robert Redford in All the Presidents Men, “Follow the money.” To live a long and healthy life, prevention of illness will not likely come from a pharmaceutical company or a hospital surgery. Learn about your own body and find the diet and fitness program that lets you live your life to the fullest.
–Dr. Richard Maurer
