Atkins Diabetes Revolution

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Authors: Robert C. Atkins
standard practice to avoid heart attacks in those who have not yet even been diagnosed with prediabetes. We are committed to giving you the tools to prevent getting even this far.Undiagnosed prediabetes almost guarantees that the silent damage will continue until it reveals itself in an acute cardiovascular event. Let’s try to make sure that doesn’t happen to you.
    HOP, SKIP, AND A JUMP TO DIABETES
    If you have prediabetes and don’t do anything about it, what are your odds of progressing onward to full-blown Type 2 diabetes? Dr. Atkins was convinced it was almost a guarantee. A study of a large group of people in Holland showed that over a six-year period, 64.5 percent of those who had both impaired fasting glucose and impaired glucose tolerance became diabetic. That compares with only 4.5 percent of those who had normal glucose levels at the start of the study. To put it another way, the people with IFG and IGT had roughly ten times the risk of developing diabetes as the people with normal blood sugar. 10
    In his practice, Dr. Atkins frequently encountered this situation. Many of his patients came to him only after they had progressed to full-blown Type 2 diabetes, which could have been avoided had they started on a controlled-carb program the moment they received a diagnosis of the metabolic syndrome. One good example of this is RuthT. Several years before Dr. Atkins first saw her, her doctor had told her she had the metabolic syndrome and advised her to lose weight. She failed at every diet she tried, however, and by the time she came to see Dr. Atkins, she had become diabetic. It was only when she started following his dietary approach that she had any success with weight loss and improving her blood sugar and lipids. If only she had taken the controlled-carb route sooner! She could easily have avoided the unseen damage from years of high blood sugar.
     
    At 39, Janet M. came to me complaining of fatigue. She generally felt terrible and had begun to lose weight. Her initial blood sugar was 326, indicating diabetes, with a glycated hemoglobin (A1C) higher than 16 and a nondetectable c-peptide, indicating that she was not producing insulin and therefore had late-onset Type 1 diabetes. Her cholesterol was 217, triglycerides 179, HDL 46, and LDL 135. As she wanted to use as little medication as possible, she chose to begin to control her carbohydrates, took about ten units of long-acting (NPH) insulin twice a day, and carefully checked her blood sugars. When her blood work was rechecked three months later, her fasting blood sugar was normal at 96, her A1C was normal at 5.3, and her lipids had improved. Her cholesterol was now 165, her triglycerides 47, her HDL 62, and LDL 93. She had also regained the 15 pounds she had lost as a result of her severe Type 1 diabetes.
      —M ARY V ERNON
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    COULD IT BE TYPE 1 DIABETES?
    If you’ve been given a diagnosis of prediabetes,you’ll also know that you have a good chance of progressing along the continuum to diabetes— unless you’re able to immediately make the appropriate lifestyle changes. So, if you suddenly start having symptoms such as excessive thirst and hunger and frequent urination, it’s natural to assume that you’ve tipped over into Type 2 diabetes. That may well be the case, but it’s also possible that you have a late-developing case of Type 1 diabetes. Although this form of the disease usually strikes people under age 25, it can occur at any age. When it happens to older people, it’s generally known as latent autoimmune diabetes in adults (LADA). This is a serious condition that needs to be diagnosed and treated quickly to avoid dangerous complications.See your doctor at once if you suddenly notice symptoms of diabetes.
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    DO YOU HAVE PREDIABETES?
    Do the following statements describe you? Your answers will determine if you have prediabetes.
     
I am overweight and my excess fat tends to be in the abdomen.
    a. True
    b. False
     
I don’t get

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