There are 29 million people in the United States who are diabetic. And 79 million people are prediabetic. That’s a lot of medication, right? It doesn’t have to be. It’s a myth that all diabetics must take medicine for the rest of their lives. Diabetes is preventable and controllable, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention. And with diabetes therapy supported by a functional medicine practitioner, diabetes is reversible.
Diabetes Medications Can Make You Even Sicker
You may have been led to believe that you have no option but to be on medication to control diabetes. After all, this chronic disease can lead to heart attack, stroke, blindness, and kidney failure. In fact, you may be apprehensive to change anything that would eliminate the meds on which you have come to rely for fear of what could result.
However, the medications given for diabetes can be just as damaging as the diabetes itself:
- Women on diabetes medications have two times the incidence of Alzheimer’s disease.
- Even with diabetes medication, 70 percent of diabetics develop neuropathy.
It’s not just diabetes meds that are the problem. Other types of medications can make a person more likely to develop diabetes. For instance, post-menopausal women on cholesterol meds are 48 percent more likely to become diabetic.
Diabetes has tripled since 1980 and is expected to triple again by 2030. This disease is an epidemic, affecting adults and children. But disease doesn’t have to be a lifelong sentence. Not every diabetic patient needs medication to control glucose levels. Your future is in your control, not in the control of prescription drugs.
Change Your Lifestyle to Change Your Diabetes Diagnosis
Lifestyle factors have the biggest impact on long-term health and healing. This is truer for diabetes than almost any other condition. Yes, genes can predispose people to develop certain diseases, and if diabetes runs in your family your risk increases, but only by 3 to 5 percent. Lifestyle is the determining factor as to whether a disease develops at all.
You are the boss of how your body functions. Leave your system to its own devices without the support of a healthy lifestyle, and the consequences could be dire. Surrender your system to diabetes medications, and you will be fighting and struggling your entire life. Interestingly enough, celebrities with diabetes have put a spotlight on this condition, showing how the severity of your diabetes can be altered with critical lifestyle changes.
Eliminate Your Dependence on Prescription Medications
Medication is necessary to help the body in times of disease, and to support your system while you discover the underlying cause of your disease. Medication can also be used to maintain the status quo while you correct lifestyle factors to help your body heal. However, meds should not be relied upon to reverse disease. Prescription drugs regulate, they do not repair.
If you are ready to be in charge of your diabetes, and perhaps eliminate it and medications from your life entirely, schedule a consultation with Dr. Daniel Geck at the Restorative Wellness Center in Ann Arbor. Learn more about functional medicine and targeted diabetes therapy.
