pediatric diabetes

[Guest guest]

Hi,

Do you have any insight or text recommendations for the treatment of pediatric

(16 months old) type one diabetes? Thanks for any help, Karen

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Hi Karen,

Not sure if you have received any suggestions yet. Thought I might share my

experience.

 

My husband is a Type 1 diabetic. while acupuncture, herbs, nutrition,

exercise, etc... offer many options for increasing insulin sensitivity (so

that less insulin will be required), as a Type 1 diabetic taking insulin

injections is always a requirement. Nothing I do for him via TCM can come

close to replacing his vigilance about checking blood sugar frequently and

making adjustments to finetune insulin dosage throughout the day. Careful

monitoring and adjustment of insulin is still the #1 key.

 

He takes excellent care of his diabetes by checking blood sugar 10x per day

on average. He's an athlete and sports coach by profession, so he has to be

diligent about maintaining near-perfect blood sugar. Since 2005 he has been

using the insulin " pump " , rather than injections. The pump system allows

continuous slow-drip of insulin throughout the day, and the ability to

digitally control precise dosages for mealtime. It has made a world of

difference for both of us. He has not had any major episodes of hypoglycemic

shock since switching to the pump.

 

A word of caution -- in my husband's case, acupuncture can be so powerful in

stimulating his microcirculation and insulin sensitivity that he gets

hypoglycemic rather easily during tx. Just as he would eat/drink something

to raise blood glucose levels right before exercise, so too he needs to

drink a little juice or eat some simple carbs right before acupuncture

treatment in order to prevent hypoglycemia. I treat him often for sports

injuries and we always have to do this. Otherwise he can get dizzy or even

breaks out in hypoglycemic sweats during acupuncture.

 

So if I were in your position, I would be extremely cautious about

acupuncture for this infant patient because of possibility of inducing

hypoglycemic shock. In fact, I would avoid acupuncture altogether, maybe

just do infant tui-na. As for herbs, the same herbs/foods that are shown to

enhance insulin sensitivity for Type II diabetics would also help regulate

blood sugar for a Type I diabetic to a small extent. However these options

pale in comparison to careful regulation of blood sugar.

 

So the parents of this infant must be diligent about monitoring blood sugar

levels and finetuning insulin dosage throughout the day. That's the #1

priority. TCM is great stuff, but in the case of type 1 diabetics theres no

" magic natural cure " yet.

 

~edith

 

 

--

Edith Chan, L.Ac.

Phone: 415.298.5324

www.EdithChanAcupuncture.com

 

On Fri, May 30, 2008 at 9:42 AM, karen hayes <herbsandacu wrote:

 

>

> Hi,

> Do you have any insight or text recommendations for the treatment of

> pediatric (16 months old) type one diabetes? Thanks for any help, Karen

>

>

[Guest guest]

Edith

his responses to needles can also be explained by simple stress

response, does it make a big difference which points you use? does his

blood sugar goes down more with more painful treatments?

 

 

 

400 29th St. Suite 419

Oakland Ca 94609

 

 

 

alonmarcus

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Edith, Thank you for this very clear response. This same topic came up on the

list a few months ago. I HOPE that all acupuncturists know that type I diabetes

is insulin-dependent and that Chinese medicine can only be an adjunct to

controlling blood sugar. Your account of your husband's experience with

acupuncture is a good reminder to be very careful when treating people with this

disease. I forwarded your email to my niece, who has type I and was wondering

how Chinese medicine might be able to help her (most research has been done on

type II). Off the subject of Chinese medicine, but for those who are interested

in diabetes research, here is a link to a (somewhat cheesy) you tube video about

new discoveries coming out of Harvard:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhAtlAtnKwY & eurl=http://tudiabetes.com/ Emily

 

 

:

chineseherbs: Fri, 30 May 2008 21:59:48 -0700Re: TCM -

pediatric diabetes

 

 

 

Hi Karen,Not sure if you have received any suggestions yet. Thought I might

share myexperience.My husband is a Type 1 diabetic. while acupuncture, herbs,

nutrition,exercise, etc... offer many options for increasing insulin sensitivity

(sothat less insulin will be required), as a Type 1 diabetic taking

insulininjections is always a requirement. Nothing I do for him via TCM can

comeclose to replacing his vigilance about checking blood sugar frequently

andmaking adjustments to finetune insulin dosage throughout the day.

Carefulmonitoring and adjustment of insulin is still the #1 key.He takes

excellent care of his diabetes by checking blood sugar 10x per dayon average.

He's an athlete and sports coach by profession, so he has to bediligent about

maintaining near-perfect blood sugar. Since 2005 he has beenusing the insulin

" pump " , rather than injections. The pump system allowscontinuous slow-drip of

insulin throughout the day, and the ability todigitally control precise dosages

for mealtime. It has made a world ofdifference for both of us. He has not had

any major episodes of hypoglycemicshock since switching to the pump.A word of

caution -- in my husband's case, acupuncture can be so powerful instimulating

his microcirculation and insulin sensitivity that he getshypoglycemic rather

easily during tx. Just as he would eat/drink somethingto raise blood glucose

levels right before exercise, so too he needs todrink a little juice or eat some

simple carbs right before acupuncturetreatment in order to prevent hypoglycemia.

I treat him often for sportsinjuries and we always have to do this. Otherwise he

can get dizzy or evenbreaks out in hypoglycemic sweats during acupuncture.So if

I were in your position, I would be extremely cautious aboutacupuncture for this

infant patient because of possibility of inducinghypoglycemic shock. In fact, I

would avoid acupuncture altogether, maybejust do infant tui-na. As for herbs,

the same herbs/foods that are shown toenhance insulin sensitivity for Type II

diabetics would also help regulateblood sugar for a Type I diabetic to a small

extent. However these optionspale in comparison to careful regulation of blood

sugar.So the parents of this infant must be diligent about monitoring blood

sugarlevels and finetuning insulin dosage throughout the day. That's the

#1priority. TCM is great stuff, but in the case of type 1 diabetics theres

no " magic natural cure " yet.~edith-- Edith Chan, L.Ac.Phone:

415.298.5324www.EdithChanAcupuncture.comOn Fri, May 30, 2008 at 9:42 AM, karen

hayes <herbsandacu wrote:>> Hi,> Do you have any insight or text

recommendations for the treatment of> pediatric (16 months old) type one

diabetes? Thanks for any help, Karen>> [Non-text portions of this message have

been removed]>> >

[Guest guest]

My experiences regarding diabetics are as follows:

-treatment protocol for type I and II are identical, the former

takes longer time to see results;

-neither CM or WM can 'cure' this disease; but controlling the level

of blood sugar is totally viable;

-best protocol is taking both WM and CM; WM monitoring the blood

sugar level while CM treating the signs; the dose of WM can be

reduced to minimum, a pill a day, and everybody is happy; as the

signs are treated, blood sugar level will drop;

-herbals works better than acu. as there are deficient signs which

acu can do little; besides, kids,patients are fed up with insertion

already;

-stick to pattern idnetification is your best bet;

-White Tiger Decoction plus Ginseng Decoction (bai hu jia ren.shen

tang) or Kidney Qi Pill (shen qi wan) are fine; but one needs to

think out of the box; our constitution is different from our

ancestors;

 

My two cents,

 

SUNG, Yuk-ming

PhD (Chengdu), BA (Houston), L CMD (HK)

[Guest guest]

Hi Alon,

That's a good point, definitely a possibility. I do find that if I stimulate

to get strong Qi or use more total needles, it's more of an issue. If we do

just one or two needles, with mild stimulation, he seems to do ok...

 

A comment about stress response -- When Dave and I argue (which is rare,

and it's usually about washing dishes and taking out trash, etc.. :-> ), his

" stress response " leads to hypERglycemia. i.e cortisol levels rise --> liver

to release glycogen stores just as in non-diabetics, blood sugar goes up.

However with acupuncture, he consistently tends to get hypOglycemic. So my

theory is that needles invigorates the Qi & Blood, catalyzing the

interaction between insulin and blood glucose, thereby increasing the

insulin sensitivity. Because the dosage and timing of insulin is such

delicate balance for a Type I diabetic (insulin sensitivity easily affected

by diet, activity levels, stress levels, hydration status, etc, etc, so

dosage is carefully estimated based on these factors), if their blood sugar

is just right at the start of treatment, then the addition of needles throws

in a new variable and can quickly change the insulin sensitivity. That's my

experience. In a Type II diabetic where blood sugar is chronically high due

to poor insulin sensitivity, it's great to restore their insulin

sensitivity. But in Type I diabetic whose blood sugar is stable and

well-maintained, it can induce undesireable hypoglycemic shock effect if

we're not careful...

 

~edith

 

On Sun, Jun 1, 2008 at 8:53 AM, alon marcus <alonmarcus wrote:

 

> Edith

> his responses to needles can also be explained by simple stress

> response, does it make a big difference which points you use? does his

> blood sugar goes down more with more painful treatments?

>

>

>

>

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Thanks Edith, very much for your advice and personal account, and for everyone

who has chimed in...I realize what a delicate situation this is, particularly

for a tiny one...really, thanks and please keep it coming if anyone else has

advice/experiece/insight. Karen

 

" Edith Chan, L.Ac. " <chineseherbs wrote: Hi Alon,

That's a good point, definitely a possibility. I do find that if I stimulate

to get strong Qi or use more total needles, it's more of an issue. If we do

just one or two needles, with mild stimulation, he seems to do ok...

 

A comment about stress response -- When Dave and I argue (which is rare,

and it's usually about washing dishes and taking out trash, etc.. :-> ), his

" stress response " leads to hypERglycemia. i.e cortisol levels rise --> liver

to release glycogen stores just as in non-diabetics, blood sugar goes up.

However with acupuncture, he consistently tends to get hypOglycemic. So my

theory is that needles invigorates the Qi & Blood, catalyzing the

interaction between insulin and blood glucose, thereby increasing the

insulin sensitivity. Because the dosage and timing of insulin is such

delicate balance for a Type I diabetic (insulin sensitivity easily affected

by diet, activity levels, stress levels, hydration status, etc, etc, so

dosage is carefully estimated based on these factors), if their blood sugar

is just right at the start of treatment, then the addition of needles throws

in a new variable and can quickly change the insulin sensitivity. That's my

experience. In a Type II diabetic where blood sugar is chronically high due

to poor insulin sensitivity, it's great to restore their insulin

sensitivity. But in Type I diabetic whose blood sugar is stable and

well-maintained, it can induce undesireable hypoglycemic shock effect if

we're not careful...

 

~edith

 

On Sun, Jun 1, 2008 at 8:53 AM, alon marcus <alonmarcus wrote:

 

> Edith

> his responses to needles can also be explained by simple stress

> response, does it make a big difference which points you use? does his

> blood sugar goes down more with more painful treatments?

>

>

>

>