Purpose of the Type II Diabetes Blog

Hi There. My name is Dan Wafer, and I was diagnosed with Type II diabetes approximately seven years ago.
I have thought about starting a BLOG on this subject in an already seemingly crowded field for a long time. My purpose it to share my own story, my own struggle and to try and make sense out of a crowded field of books, and conflicting information. First of all, how big a problem is diabetes? These statistics include both type I and type II figures, although my understanding is that they represent 95% Type II diabetes.

STAGGERING FIGURES:

According to the American Diabetes Association, estimates for the total number of people in America with diabetes for the year 2007, is as follows:

Estimated 23.6 million children and adults have diabetes
Diagnosed 17.8 million
Undiagnosed 5.7 million

Under the age of 20: 186,300 or 0.22% of this age group have diabetes
1 in every 400 -600 adolescents have type I diabetes
Approximately 2 million people age 12-19 have PRE-diabetes

Age 20 and older:
23.5 million or 10.7% have diabetes

Broken down further:

12 million men or 11.2% over 20 have diabetes
11.5 million women of 10.2% over 20 have diabetes


Diabetes is the 7th leading cause of death listed on death certificates in 2006

Annual cost of treating diabetes is 174 BILLION dollars

116 million for medical expenses and an additional 58 billion for related diabetes complications, including heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, blindness, kidney disease, neuropathy, amputation, disability work loss and premature mortality.

Having been diagnosed and treated for the last 7 years at a diabetic clinic, I can say that the American Diabetes Association look at Diabetes as a progressive and incurable disease. Essentially once a diabetic, always a diabetic. There is room to indicate that one is getting Good Control of one's blood sugar, however the word cure is not part of the vocabulary.

Admittedly diabetes is a complex issue and there is a lot of controversy on the Internet, and lots of books published claiming complete cures based on exercise, diet, and changing one's lifestyle habits. I have read several of these including the PH miracle cure for diabetes, and my latest book entitled, "Death To Diabetes" by Dewayne McCulley.

In closing this first post, I want to make it clear, that I have NO formal medical training, I am NOT trying to play doctor, or give medical advice. I have absolutely NO financial interest or vesting in any nutritional products, any books, specific diets, vitamins, minerals or specific herbal remedies. I am not affiliated with any particular products for sale either on the Internet or by name brand or in a specific store or from a particular company.

To make it simple, "I am not selling anything". I will give my thoughts and opinions on products I have tried, books I have read, and information from the world wide web I have studied. I also will NOT give anyone specific advice other than to consult with your own medical doctor. My BLOG is directed at Type II diabetes and  will NOT concern itself with Type I diabetes. I will NOT encourage anyone to stop taking their medications. I will encourage you to work closely with your medical provider and to let them know that you are interested in changing your lifestyle, your diet, and your exercise program in hopes of improving your BG (blood glucose) readings. I will also encourage you to test more frequently ONLY if you are going to change your diet and exercise program. If you have NO intention of changing your diet or your exercise or vitamin, mineral, herbal supplements, then you are probably wasting your time to test more frequently. I would also encourage you to keep a record of your readings and everything that you put into your mouth for at least 30 days. This will help you to understand your own body and the effect that different foods have on your BG readings.

I am just a guy, who found out he has Type II diabetes. I had difficulty accepting that diagnosis at first. I was in denial. Since then I have accepted that like it or not, I am a type II diabetic. I am constantly researching the latest information, possible cures, and in the interim, changing my lifestyle, monitoring my blood sugar more frequently, keeping a record of what foods are well tolerated and what foods are not. I have my A1C done at least every three months and test my blood sugar sometimes 5X a day.

I hope through a series of posts on this BLOG to perhaps be able to share some information you would not know about otherwise and to encourage you to take an active role in your own treatment. I welcome your comments as long as you are not asking for specific medical advice or recommendations concerning your medications.

In closing this first post, I will leave you with a thought concerning healing.

Luke  18:27  "The things which are impossible with men, are possible with God"

Dan