Latest results

Just got my latest results.

HbA1c - 38 (was 42 last October and 65 when diagnosed a year ago). This is 5.6% in old money.

Liver ALT down again from 17 to 14 (was 61 a year ago)

Total cholesterol 6.1 (was 6.0 last time) but I have no concern about that because HDL is up from 1.62 to 1.95, Trigs are down from 1.97 to 1.50, meaning the Total/HDL ratio is now 3.1 and falling, and Trigs/HDL is now 0.8 and falling. They didn't estimate LDL because they assumed it was non-fasting, but I did fast and the Friedewald equation estimates 3.7 (was 3.5, but it's only up because total has stayed much the same and HDL has increased, so I couldn't give a to$$ about that).

Great results there Rod! It's interesting you say about your ALT has dropped significantly on this regime-Both my elevated ALT and GGT LFT's reduced a lot on low carb-ALT down from 91 to 35 and GGT down from 520 to 78...Could this be down to reduced inflammation or reduced visceral fat perhaps?

Thanks Paul!

I only had a GGT in my first set of results at T2 diagnosis, it was 217. I guess they don't do it now my ALT dropped below the guideline max of 41. But I think you're right about its reduction being a benefit of LCHF because it's the excess carbs that caused the fatty liver not the alcohol (apart from the beer but I was never a big beer drinker).

sanguine wrote:Just got my latest results.

HbA1c - 38 (was 42 last October and 65 when diagnosed a year ago). This is 5.6% in old money.

Liver ALT down again from 17 to 14 (was 61 a year ago)

Total cholesterol 6.1 (was 6.0 last time) but I have no concern about that because HDL is up from 1.62 to 1.95, Trigs are down from 1.97 to 1.50, meaning the Total/HDL ratio is now 3.1 and falling, and Trigs/HDL is now 0.8 and falling. They didn't estimate LDL because they assumed it was non-fasting, but I did fast and the Friedewald equation estimates 3.7 (was 3.5, but it's only up because total has stayed much the same and HDL has increased, so I couldn't give a to$$ about that).

What no scurvy, osteoporosis, grim lipid counts, bowel problems, going hungry, brain fog and depression, need for more medication and the onset of complications.

Seriously Rod well done, yet another diabetic whose good news gets better all the time. Treated properly type two diabetes is not a death sentence, it is a life sentence, this disease does not have to be progressive as you are proving.

sanguine wrote:Just got my latest results.

HbA1c - 38 (was 42 last October and 65 when diagnosed a year ago). This is 5.6% in old money.

Liver ALT down again from 17 to 14 (was 61 a year ago)

Total cholesterol 6.1 (was 6.0 last time) but I have no concern about that because HDL is up from 1.62 to 1.95, Trigs are down from 1.97 to 1.50, meaning the Total/HDL ratio is now 3.1 and falling, and Trigs/HDL is now 0.8 and falling. They didn't estimate LDL because they assumed it was non-fasting, but I did fast and the Friedewald equation estimates 3.7 (was 3.5, but it's only up because total has stayed much the same and HDL has increased, so I couldn't give a to$$ about that).

Fantastic Results Rod WELL DONE

All the best Jan

Brilliant Rod! You beat me in the race to 38! My excuse is that I'm not allowed an HbA1c till November.

They are very good results and I am hoping to see similar all being well at my annual review in May.

Kenny

Great results Rod just shows that LC is the best way to go 

Excellent progress Rod !

HbA1c just now was 39 (5.7%), nominally up a point from 38 in March but statistically probably the same.  Whilst a further drop would have been welcome, it's not entirely surprising given work stress etc over the last few months.  Diet is unchanged, BP and weight have pretty much flatlined at stable levels.

It may also be that the high 30s are what my body considers stable given my own insulin resistance/beta cell performance, glycation rate, cell lifespan etc etc.  So many variables!

My six-month DN update just now (all of 10 minutes, not much to say really) revealed that my DN is also a low-carber, not because she is diabetic but because it's healthy (and her son in law is a fitness trainer in the south of France who advocates it).  She never did push the Eatwell Plate at me with any enthusiasm and a year ago had said off the record that she thought it was bonkers for diabetics.

sanguine wrote:HbA1c just now was 39 (5.7%), nominally up a point from 38 in March but statistically probably the same.  Whilst a further drop would have been welcome, it's not entirely surprising given work stress etc over the last few months.  Diet is unchanged, BP and weight have pretty much flatlined at stable levels.

It may also be that the high 30s are what my body considers stable given my own insulin resistance/beta cell performance, glycation rate, cell lifespan etc etc.  So many variables!

My six-month DN update just now (all of 10 minutes, not much to say really) revealed that my DN is also a low-carber, not because she is diabetic but because it's healthy (and her son in law is a fitness trainer in the south of France who advocates it).  She never did push the Eatwell Plate at me with any enthusiasm and a year ago had said off the record that she thought it was bonkers for diabetics.

Congrats Rod!

So many variables as you say but at the end of the day you are in the 5% club which so many mainstream diabetics could only dream of! Well done!

sanguine wrote:
My six-month DN update just now (all of 10 minutes, not much to say really) revealed that my DN is also a low-carber, not because she is diabetic but because it's healthy (and her son in law is a fitness trainer in the south of France who advocates it).  She never did push the Eatwell Plate at me with any enthusiasm and a year ago had said off the record that she thought it was bonkers for diabetics.

Can you clone her? There ought to be more of them.

Your A1c is none to shabby! A not insignificant number of low carbers, diabetic or not, appear to have an above average A1c. Some have had fructosamine tests (not AFAIK available in the UK unless you're a vet) which have demonstrated that it's the A1c itself which is off, possibly because the blood cells actually live longer so pick up more glycation. Other folks appear to be "low glycators" where A1c underestimates what spot glucose readings show. This used to be a big reason why A1c was never used for diagnosis until recently.

You can split the same blood sample and send to two different blood testing outfits an get two different results. That being said well done Rod. 5% club is so good the NHS don't even list in their grim NHS stats. Why I ask myself. Maybe not enough people to make 5% club clinically significant, or maybe some big noise may ask how do these people do it, when most fail.

Yes many of the A1c converters stop at a A1c of 6, just like many of the "CVD predictor" sites stop at an HDL level of 99 (US numbers), they don't believe normality is achievable.

chris c wrote:Yes many of the A1c converters stop at a A1c of 6, just like many of the "CVD predictor" sites stop at an HDL level of 99 (US numbers), they don't believe normality is achievable.

Normal is almost impossible to achieve following the diet of slow death from the NHS, BDA, DUK, ADA et al and that is a fact. How many here could achieve non diabetic numbers following the DOSD none I am willing to bet. If they can they are probably not diabetics, either that or they are wizards with injected insulin.

Quite! Meanwhile elsewhere

from the Diet Doctor blog

*BOOM* indeed!! LCHF blows the other methods of diabetes control out of the water as we know!

sanguine wrote:HbA1c just now was 39 (5.7%), nominally up a point from 38 in March but statistically probably the same.  Whilst a further drop would have been welcome, it's not entirely surprising given work stress etc over the last few months.  Diet is unchanged, BP and weight have pretty much flatlined at stable levels.

It may also be that the high 30s are what my body considers stable given my own insulin resistance/beta cell performance, glycation rate, cell lifespan etc etc.  So many variables!

My six-month DN update just now (all of 10 minutes, not much to say really) revealed that my DN is also a low-carber, not because she is diabetic but because it's healthy (and her son in law is a fitness trainer in the south of France who advocates it).  She never did push the Eatwell Plate at me with any enthusiasm and a year ago had said off the record that she thought it was bonkers for diabetics.

Good news yet again Rod thanks for the update, it must be helpful having a DN like yours as you well know they are bit of a rarity. Mine though not as clued up as yours is not dismissive of LC, as long as my blood tests are OK she is happy with my self management even though it goes against the prescribed "healthy diet".  She does though admit that she knows little about oddball skinny T2s like me.

In my eighth year since diagnosis I still get a pot of test strips a month on script thanks to my DSN my doctor doesn't approve and even tried to stop them but she had the final say 

graham64 wrote:
In my eighth year since diagnosis I still get a pot of test strips a month on script thanks to my DSN my doctor doesn't approve and even tried to stop them but she had the final say 

Can you clone HER as well?

A friend down the road was given the Standard Advice, to eat a high carb low fat diet and on no account to test her blood, and was assured that she would be on insulin within five years.

She was seeing an endocrinologist (for a different issue) and managed to persuade him to prescribe 50 strips/month. She bought the rest.

It's now been something like 12 years that she's been lowcarbing, got off all medications even her metformin, and has been in the 5% Club.

How has she been rewarded? Every six months to a year she has her strip prescription cancelled, and has to ring the Endo who then rings her GP to have them reinstated.

My only surprise is that she hasn't yet been deregistered.

To be honest, having a sympathetic DN makes for a pleasant non-confrontational meeting every six months but having an unreconstructed one wouldn't make any difference to what I do! 

Needless to say though the silence has been deafening on the presentation I sent to the surgery a few months ago.

They *might* listen if you point them to David Unwin's paper which covers some of the cost saving. Then again, probably not . . .

chris c wrote:They *might* listen if you point them to David Unwin's paper which covers some of the cost saving. Then again, probably not . . .

Worth a go maybe? The more ammo the better I guess.

Yes if you mention money they may be more interested than if you just mention health . . .

sanguine wrote:To be honest, having a sympathetic DN makes for a pleasant non-confrontational meeting every six months but having an unreconstructed one wouldn't make any difference to what I do! 

Needless to say though the silence has been deafening on the presentation I sent to the surgery a few months ago.

I have to agree Rod my DN has the same approach although these days I only see her once a year which is my choice as after all this time I think it is a waste of valuable resources as the blood tests only cover a rather predictable A1c. The moneys better spent on the newly diagnosed and those in the first couple of years of diagnosis who have the most to gain.

sanguine wrote:To be honest, having a sympathetic DN makes for a pleasant non-confrontational meeting every six months but having an unreconstructed one wouldn't make any difference to what I do! 

Needless to say though the silence has been deafening on the presentation I sent to the surgery a few months ago.

Don't know if you saw my comment about Douglas Twenefour a clinical advisor at Diabetes UK Rod but he has stated: "We sometimes hear claims that Diabetes UK is against a low-carb diet.

Douglas Twenefour wrote:This is not true. We understand personal preferences and that different diets work for different people."  https://blogs.diabetes.org.uk/?p=4318

Another thing is SMBG I did notice on a thread at the other place that phoenix was citing a study that showed it was of little use to T2's not on hypoglycemic meds or insulin and showed little improvement on A1c, what has been neglected though is a recent study that showed given the proper education SMBG can be beneficial and cost effective way for T2's to manage their diabetes.

Link to study which was also reported by the DCUK newsbot but clearly has gone unnoticed there : 

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/08/150805075843.htm

I hope If you do any further presentations Rod these couple of observations may be of use

@sanguine