The Cure For Diabetes But It'll Cost You...

If medicine sounds too good to be true, it might just be. 

 

In every walk of life, even in the most black and white of things, there is always someone who interprets things differently. It is very unfortunate that this truth extends to the realm of medicine. It is very simple and easy to convince people that there are many more options by throwing in pseudoscientific words. In many cases, there is only a handful of people who are willing to bring you the truth, that being; doctors are lying. Out of personal interest, I read into a lot of the misnomer and controversies around the subject of diabetes. Whilst scouring the internet I came across a blog post detailing a website called ‘ICTM’. Their ‘aim’ is to reveal the secret to ‘curing’ diabetes. The end game of this is to sell a book. If you took the time to click the link, you will quickly realise that it is just a long video which over and over and over again says they will ‘reveal the cure’.

Diabetes

Type 1diabetes is the diabetes with which you are born. The immune system destroys the cells releasing insulin, insulin absorbs sugar from the blood, without it you have high blood sugar. Type 2 diabetes can develop at any age as the body becomes resistant to insulin. Mostly this is a result of poor diet, but not always. Cures for either have not been discovered. As with any disease, as more studies are conducted the root causes of problems are found. Type two diabetes can be prevented and/or delayed with a healthy diet and exercise. There is a chance that type two subjects can go into remission following diet and exercise plans. Again, this isn’t always the case.

 

ICTM

The ITCM stands for the International Council for Truth in Medicine. Their Facebook site is full of quackery: Anti-GMO (shocking) and they lack the knowledge of basic science. To legitimise the ‘science’ behind their money making propaganda, they have partnership with the conspiracy mongs: Natural News. Famous in the skeptical community due to their dangerous articles on how vaccines cause disease, including aids. The ITCM Facebook page has an unfair amount of scepticism laced in it from the public, which is a little disconcerting. The comment below kind of suggests so:

“In your super long winded sell on the diabetic’s book on reversing type 2 diabetics you say that 90% of doctors don’t know this WELL THAT IS ON YOU. I have ordered the hard copy so i suppose if it isn’t up to scratch i probably don’t get anything back but i will share it with my doctor as she has my condition under control well i have through diet will see if you are for real or just full of hot air and door to door sales technics taken to internet levels.”

This guy did (albeit stupidly) purchase the book sold by these quacks, and complained to them that if it doesn’t work, he will show it to his doctor. I think, think, his doctor could have told him to save his money. I am yet to find out what is in their book, but I haven’t read of a cure and I will be dammed if I give them one penny for that crock of sh*t. Their website actually has a section on ‘chemtrials’ – this is the belief that we are being controlled and poisoned by the steam produced from planes in the sky. Yes, that is a real thing. You did not read that incorrectly.

Is there a cure?

Many scientific studies have been carried out, as this is a problem that affects many. A Swedish company named Diamyd Medical undertook a trial to see if an antigen vaccination could stop, or at the very least slow down type one diabetes onset at its earliest symptomatic stage. The study got to a stage three clinical trial, which allows the assessment of the effectiveness of the drugs in willing participants. The trial took place in Europe and the USA with a total of 640 subjects. Unfortunately, the trial was unsuccessful and showed no effect on the onset of diabetes. The company is now working to look into other clinical trials. 

 

However, not all medicine out there is as through and as scientifically rigorous as that. The ICTM, for one. Another example would be the Probiotic Cure for diabetes published in the Journal of Diabetic Medicine. Researchers at Cornell University developed a tablet which contained modified bacteria found in the human gut and fed them to diabetic rodents. Glucagon like Peptide (1) (GLP-1) helps us regulate our bodies response to glucose breakdown after a meal. This peptide blocks glucagon being produced, so it isn’t stored to raise the blood sugar levels. The team at Cornell engineered the bacteria to produce the peptide GLP-1. They found that in some of the rats, they had significant increases in insulin levels at low doses. Yes, that is a good study in terms of raising a few eyebrows, but is it a cure for diabetes? No, it shows that GLP-1 could be vital in developing a treatment program to help people with this condition. This peptide is widely researched in the world of diabetic medicine, more specifically in type one. Only recently has its properties been explored for type two.

That was my take on the paper, Express, ran an article entitled: Breakthrough pill can CUREdiabetes: New drug fights both types of killer disease. I have two issues with this; 1) there’s isn’t a cure. 2) It is not a ‘killer’ disease. The article basically deconstructs the research and ‘quotes’ the researchers to claim that they have found the cure for diabetes.

Conclusion

So, is their truth that big pharma is hiding the cure for diabetes and only a select few ‘truthers’ come out of the woodwork to ask you for money to give you that cure? No. For as long as there is research into incurable diseases such as diabetes (e.g. cancer, Parkinson’s, mental illnesses) there are a mound of people who believe that the disease is too profitable for big pharma. Think about how many people that would take to cover up? Everyone probably knows someone with diabetes, including loved ones and even themselves. It is not a rare disease, would these people not want to cure their friends, family and even themselves. There is a fantastic blog entitled ‘Is big Pharma Really ‘Trying To Cure Diabetes’?’ I recommend you read the 10 reasons as to why a conspiracy is pretty much ridiculous.

Remember, if it sounds too good to be true; it is. Read it clearly, most pseudoscience can be spotted in the first few sentences. Any ridiculously massive claims that are not backed up by a multitude of studies are not really to be taken at face value, especially when relayed in the eyes of scientifically untrained media. Diabetes is one of the most common diseases and with that comes a lot of myth about the 'cures' and 'what to eat to cure'. If you hear of a cure for diabetes, look at it with skepticism and if it is a cure for type one diabetes, just stay away from it and listen to your doctors. They know more than these money making schemes and books.