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The Starvation Treatment of Diabetes
The purpose of this medical guide is to furnish to the general practitioner in compact form the details of the latest and most successful treatment of diabetes mellitus.
70 pages, Paperback
First published December 15, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 18, 2012
I stumbled across this book when I was searching for Kindle diabetes books. When I saw the title, I had an immediate, negative response. Starving diabetics?? In this day and age?? How horrific! I'm glad I took a closer look. The reason it sounds so archaic is because it was published in 1916...which, as anyone likely to read this book probably knows, predates the discovery of insulin and the start of insulin therapies. This book represents the cutting edge of pre-insulin diabetic treatment options.
I'd always read that starvation was the treatment of choice and had discovered that it was used to add a few years to the life of a diabetic. I'd seen emaciated figures that were living on this plan and had always wondered how difficult that life was. My daughter was diagnosed at two years old and the thought of starving her to keep her alive has haunted me and made me even more grateful for insulin. I have this fearful place in my brain that worries about what we would do if something catastrophic happened and insulin was no longer an option.
Now I know. We'd go with this plan, no matter the miserableness. It IS doable and, while strict and monotonous, would give us time until insulin production could be restarted. What can I say...I'm a prepper...
What they did was starve a person until no sugar remained in their urine. They subsisted on whiskey and coffee for a day or two (or ten!) until low carb, mid protein and high fat diets could be built. Thrice boiled veggies, plenty of butter and meat, little in the way of bread. Again, this is not something I ever want to do and would never recommend in daily use but as an emergency, it gives me a little hope that I could help her survive in a disaster.
And, seeing the pre-insulin options was eye-opening. Not a book for most people but I am truly glad I read it.
I'd always read that starvation was the treatment of choice and had discovered that it was used to add a few years to the life of a diabetic. I'd seen emaciated figures that were living on this plan and had always wondered how difficult that life was. My daughter was diagnosed at two years old and the thought of starving her to keep her alive has haunted me and made me even more grateful for insulin. I have this fearful place in my brain that worries about what we would do if something catastrophic happened and insulin was no longer an option.
Now I know. We'd go with this plan, no matter the miserableness. It IS doable and, while strict and monotonous, would give us time until insulin production could be restarted. What can I say...I'm a prepper...
What they did was starve a person until no sugar remained in their urine. They subsisted on whiskey and coffee for a day or two (or ten!) until low carb, mid protein and high fat diets could be built. Thrice boiled veggies, plenty of butter and meat, little in the way of bread. Again, this is not something I ever want to do and would never recommend in daily use but as an emergency, it gives me a little hope that I could help her survive in a disaster.
And, seeing the pre-insulin options was eye-opening. Not a book for most people but I am truly glad I read it.
July 9, 2014
Fascinating from a historical perspective. Not a reference work for current use or anything.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews