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Insulin - when the body isn't producing it, as in diabetes, it needs to be injected.  We biohackers are working all the time in labs around the world to find methods to make insulin better and less expensive. I am myself involved with this research. Please search on "open insulin" for more information.  Of course we also talk about curing diabetes so that insulin is production is restored in the pancreas.  I think this is a ways off yet, but completely possible in time. I like to think your child will be one to see that day.

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There are so many great new technologies (Although pricey) that help monitor BG levels. Look into Capillary blood glucose monitoring. You can track it from your phone.

And insulin pumps exist but it would be bulky for a 2 year old.

Good luck to you and your family :) 

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Hope your son and your family are doing OK @Fenris

I'll add this here.

 

I was struggling with extreme hunger and weight gain after being messed up metabolically through meds, I couldn't keep going that way, heading into dangerous territory.

 

Basically things like anthocyanins and cinnamon seemed quite beneficial.

 

Blueberries. Freezer section for bulk consumption therapeutics.

 

They're delivering cognitively, for executive function-type stuff and mood wise, for weight management, on hunger levels etc. Least vicey habit I've had. On the plus, effects may persist beyond the cessation of flavonoid consumption They have really good anti-obesity/hypoglycemic/hypolipidemic and antidepressant-like effects. They tend to be insulin sensitising.

 

 Cinnamon could be beneficial to counteract deleterious dietary effects in stressed conditions. I've covered the CNS benefits elsewhere.

 
"A Cochrane review on cinnamon states that long-term blood glucose control is essential in reducing the risk of complications associated with diabetes mellitus such as cardiovascular disease (CVD), retinopathy and nephropathy.

 

Insulin is one of the key hormones that regulates energy and metabolism use as well as transporting sugar from the bloodstream into cells. Cinnamon has been studied as a therapy for improving glycaemic control through its insulin-mimicking biologically active properties that enhance glucose uptake and utilisation in the cell by:


-modulating hepatic glucose metabolism through changes in pyruvate kinase (PK) and phosphenol pyruvate carboxikinase (PEPCK)
-inhibition of intestinal glycosidase
-translocation and synthesis of glucose transporter 4 (GLUT-4)
-insulin receptor de-phosphorylation and auto-phosphorylation.


In type 2 diabetes, higher amounts of glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) are indicative of poorer control of blood glucose levels. Once haemoglobin has been glycated, its ability to transport oxygen, as well as collect carbon dioxide to return to the lungs, is lost leading to advanced glycated end product (AGE), elevated HbA1c and plasma glucose which are associated with retinopathy, nephropathy and cardiovascular disease
 

In a clinical trial, 2g of cinnamon a day for 12 weeks alongside regular medication for type 2 diabetes, significantly reduced glycated HbA1c, as well as diastolic and systolic blood pressure compared to placebo.A recent double-blind trial reported that 3g of cinnamon significantly improved all components of metabolic syndrome such as insulin, blood pressure, antioxidant status and lean body mass when compared to a placebo"

 

Hibiscus sabdariffa derived polyphenols are known to ameliorate various obesity-related conditions. The mechanism includes the regulation of energy metabolism, oxidative stress and inflammatory pathways, transcription factors, hormones and peptides, digestive enzymes, as well as epigenetic modifications. Low doses of Roselle tea or supplements appear to be effective in reducing blood pressure, and may be anti-diabetic.

 

Saffron also has interesting effects for metabolic syndrome and potential benefits.

There's interesting stuff on harmine as an interesting therapeutic.

Edited by Alchemica
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Its been a while since I checked this thread out, thanks to all for the input.

My son (Huxley :) aka Huck, or Hux) turned 5 in December last year and we have been dealing with T1D for 3 years now.

Huck has a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) for the last 18 months or so and it has been invaluable. We were recommended to go on an insulin pump, however with all the issues users have had, we prefer to give him multiple injections  a day depending on how he is tracking and just follow the CGM (his phone talks to ours so I can check his glucose levels while I am at work, on my phone).

Huck gets morning and night long lasting insulin, and short acting insulin with every meal. It is a constant juggling act to get right, thankfully we have been doing fairly well as his HbA1c has been getting better and better with every check, I think his last one was 5.9 which is pretty good for someone who isn't low carbing.

I did look into a number of natural remedies that help lower blood glucose, however I'm not keen on loading up a 5 yr old with capsules, so we decided to just add cinnamon to his breakfast and leave it at that until he can make informed decisions for himself.

The depth and breadth of plants that reduce blood glucose is quite impressive and hopefully as he gets older I can encourage him to try some herbal teas or home prepared caps to reduce his insulin load. It seems that as you get older & bigger, the insulin requirements increase a fair bit, so I'm keen to work on keeping Huck's dependence as low as possible.

At one point I was trying out the herbal remedies on myself and measuring the outcome, and sure enough, the bitter gourd caps I had made, lowered my BGL to lower than the normal range. From memory I was around 3.8 mmol/l.

Anyway, he is happy and healthy and a little bundle of chaos. He is 110% awesome and throws himself into everything with so much exuberance, it can be exhausting.

What goes mostly unmentioned though is the that my wife and I can never relax, ever. Our life continuously revolves around Hucks blood sugar levels. Its not unusual to get up 2 or 3 times a night to readjust his insulin, or have to give him some glucose to prevent him crashing. (Some nights are fine, thankfully)

Fortunately he hasn't experienced a diabetic coma thus far, but often I wake up , not having been woken by a blood glucose alarm, and wonder if his sensor failed in the night, its always a relief to see his chest rising and falling in sound sleep.

There is a constant nagging feeling that I might wake up one morning and my 5 yr old son might have passed away in the room next to me while I was sleeping.

Unfortunately it can and does happen.

The progress of technology in diabetes has been pretty impressive of late and we remain hopeful that by the time Hux is a young man that he wont have to burden himself too much with his T1D management.

 

After treating his illness for a couple of years, Huck got gastro and had a hospital admission. We were horrified a the level of knowledge and treatment in the childrens T1D ward, to the point where we discharged ourselves against advice so we could better manage the BGL of our son.

They take your insulin off you during a hospital admission. I won't go on about that as the post would double in length.

 

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Damn, you gave yourself a hypo?!

I'm very glad to hear your child is happy!

I'm sure there is a lot of worry having a child with T1D. Soon enough he'll be able to monitor and correct his BGL by himself. 

I know some people wake up when having a hypo/ hyper regardless of an alarm. Is your son one of these people?

I've heard stories from people i trust very much about having dreams about having high BGL and waking up to find it high in reality.

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Interesting recent results with berries, particularly looking at high anthocyanin berries.

 

Aronia contains a variety of ingredients such as polyphenols, anthocyanins, flavonoids, and tannins. Especially, anthocyanin content in aronia berry is known to be much higher than in other plants and berries. It is known for exerting antioxidant, anti-inflammation, and anti-aging effects. Such a strategy may be tasty and useful
 

Other anthocyanins seem to help, too. Anthocyanins from black carrot were found to be effective to control diabetes  Things like tart cherry have a strong biochemical basis for management of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease by controlling glucose absorption, reducing associated hypertension and inflammation.

Edited by Alchemica
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Hope all are well. I'm still trying to manage this with diet and exercise before it becomes more problematic for me. I'm still dropping kg but have had lots of use of SGAs which cause severe lasting metabolic adverse effects, such as elevated blood glucose and insulin resistance (IR)

 

Still like cinnamon and anthocyanins and a planty diet but have problems still. Trying to find as close to food options as possible. While plain tea can offer some slight dietary support, I'd like more glucoregulatory function

 

Several herbs have also demonstrated benefit in glycemic control in clinical trials. These herbs and herbal extracts include berberine, ginseng, gymnema, banaba, cinnamon, fenugreek, and kudzu. While many of these herbs appear to be promising when used in isolation, the practice of herbal medicine most often utilizes polyherbal combinations for purported synergistic effects [review]

 

While berberine is promising both for it's metabolic effects and on the brain, it's one I do have concerns with regard to interactions with that are clinically relevant "interactions should be considered when berberine is administered" for CYP2D6, 2C9, and CYP3A4.

 

I like fenugreek but it does seem to have some effects on the GI tract that can be less wonderful.

 

Cinnamon seems a useful adjunct as the "polyphenolic polymers, found in cinnamon, appear to potentiate insulin action by increasing phosphorylation of the insulin receptor, thereby increasing insulin sensitivity, which may lead to improvements in blood glucose control and lipid levels". [1] but often with "modest effects" [2]

 

As an isoflavone option that is food based, I like the idea of Kudzu

 

Pueraria lobata could interfere with SGA-associated IR and revert overexpressed IR-related proteins [3]. This is intriguing as it's also a promising rapid-acting antidepressant compound through AMPAR-mTOR signaling pathway activation and increased BDNF [4] exerts anxiolytic-like effects, which may be "associated with normalization of 5-HT levels and biosynthesis of allopregnanolone in brain" [5] and alleviated the behavioural deficits induced by chronic stress [6] and may be a "potentially valuable preventative therapeutics for memory-related nervous disorders" [7]. Have a big bag of standardised kudzu.

 

While chromium supplementation has been promising results are mixed. Saffron is also promising.

 

Review: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30616613

 

[1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30144878
[2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27618575
[3] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30946280
[4] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30284466
[5] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29101599
[6] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28740098
[7] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28734961

 

Edited by Alchemica

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