Looking to safely reduce your diabetes medications? Here’s how.

Last year we learned that nearly two-thirds of American seniors are using at least one drug they don’t need. (You can revisit that article here.)

And in nearly all of those cases, patients could safely reduce the dosages of some medications — and even discontinue certain ones altogether.

This practice is called “deprescribing.” And while it’s most common to deprescribe drugs with dangerous side effects (such as “hypnotic” drugs that aid sleep), there are many cases where drugs that are seemingly necessary can be deprescribed too.

Type 2 diabetes drugs are a perfect example. Don’t assume that just because you’ve taken a diabetes drug for years that you need to stay on it indefinitely.

It’s time to rethink those drugs, and now, we have an ideal tool to help us do just that.

Aiming for better blood sugar, “Goldilocks” style

For type 2 diabetics, hyperglycemia (excess blood sugar) is the primary condition to avoid. But when diabetes drugs are used to drive down glucose levels, hypoglycemia often rears its ugly head.

In hypoglycemia, blood sugar drops too low, which can be just as dangerous as very high blood sugar. Symptoms range from mild (fatigue, irritability) to dangerous (blurred vision, seizures, fainting) and worse (cardiovascular events and cognitive impairment).

In fact, hypoglycemia is the primary cause of emergency room visits for U.S. seniors.

Over time, researchers have come to understand that intensive control of blood sugar does not scale back on diabetes related deaths, but it does boost hypoglycemia risk, producing serious adverse reactions, including death. And older diabetics are at greatest risk.

This is why researchers with the Deprescribing Project at the Bruyère Research Institute (BRI) in Ottawa, Canada, recently turned their attention to type 2 diabetes drugs.

Previously, this project established deprescribing guidelines for heartburn drugs (proton pump inhibitors) and other medications that tend to be overprescribed in spite of causing significant adverse events.

The BRI team analyzed the best available evidence on diabetes drugs to prepare a systematic review that included input from primary care professionals, clinicians, and others.

After bringing draft guidelines through several stages of revisions, the researchers developed an easy-to-read flowchart that diabetic patients can use with their doctors to assess their medication needs.

In order to use it, you’ll need your most recent measurement of glycated hemoglobin. This measurement — known as A1c or HbA1c — is taken from a blood test. It reveals the average level of glucose (sugar) in hemoglobin (a protein within red blood cells) over a period of about three months. This is the most reliable way to determine how consistent your blood sugar management is.

This test is especially important for older seniors who are diabetic. They’re the ones most likely to suffer from hypoglycemia.

The master mineral of blood sugar control

Of course, there’s only one path to deprescribing diabetes drugs: Your blood sugar has to be controlled well enough to do without them. And that’s exactly what Dr. Fred Pescatore’s Metabolic Repair Protocol is all about — reining in blood sugar and reversing diabetes without the use of potentially dangerous drugs.

With that goal in mind, we’ll look at two standout supplements that Dr. Pescatore focuses on in his protocol. And both can give you a much better shot at deprescribing.

First up: chromium.

Chromium is a mineral that’s vital for blood sugar regulation, and for metabolizing carbohydrates, fats, and protein. But added sugars in refined foods deplete your body’s chromium stores, making it harder to control blood sugar.

This problem is compounded by the fact that the best way to keep your chromium level high is by eating plant food grown in chromium-rich soil. Unfortunately, modern farming practices have depleted chromium levels.

A chromium supplement can help solve this problem in two ways:

One: obviously, a chromium supplement boosts levels of the mineral.

And two: chromium reduces food cravings, which can help you control sugar intake.

In his online learning protocol, Dr. Pescatore spotlights a study where elderly diabetic patients who used chromium supplements did a better job of moderating glucose intolerance, while also improving HbA1c, and lowering cholesterol and triglyceride levels.

And he adds: “Since it’s exceedingly difficult to get this nutrient from food, I recommend taking it in supplement form. My recommendation: 200 mcg of chromium three times a day.”

Getting rid of “stowaway sugar”

Our second supplement in the spotlight today is Glucevia™, which Dr. Pescatore refers to as “my breakthrough blood sugar discovery.”

And he adds, “Glucevia™ is a standardized extract of Fraxinus excelsior — the European ash tree. And it’s the only natural ingredient I know of on the market that can help address insidious ‘stowaway sugar’ in your liver — to help tackle stubborn glucose levels.”

In a groundbreaking study — published in the peer-reviewed journal Phytomedicine — researchers gave volunteers 333 mg of Glucevia™, or a placebo, three times a day for three weeks.

Dr. Pescatore: “Compared to measurements at the start of the study, subjects who took 1,000 mg of Glucevia™ every day for three weeks had a dramatic 28 percent improvement in post-meal blood sugar levels. Fructosamine levels (a measure of your blood sugar over the past two weeks) improved as well.”

The participants also marked significant increases in the ratio of adiponectin to leptin. These two hormones are essential in regulating your body’s hunger and fat-storage signals. Participants who took Glucevia™ also reduced body fat mass.

Dr. Pescatore says that these results, combined with other research, are so promising that he believes Glucevia™ could have a game-changing effect on the current trio of metabolic epidemics: obesity, type 2 diabetes, and NAFLD (non-alcoholic fatty liver disease).

As in the clinical trial described above, Dr. Pescatore recommends 1,000 mg of Glucevia™ daily.

You can learn about other key natural supplements and lifestyle modifications shown to curb high blood sugar and reverse diabetes in Dr. Pescatore’s Metabolic Repair Protocol. To learn more or enroll today, clicking here.

 

P.S. – You can find the Deprescribing Project’s “Antihyperglycemics Deprescribing Algorithm” I mentioned earlier here.

 

 

SOURCES

https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/890429?nlid=119814_3381&src=WNL_mdplsnews_171229_mscpedit_fmed&uac=120541EV&spon=34&impID=1522226&faf=1
Diabetes Medications: Should You Deprescribe Them in the Elderly?
Medscape
December 27, 2017

http://www.cfp.ca/content/63/11/832?
Deprescribing antihyperglycemic agents in older persons
Canadian Family Physician
November 2017