[Lighthouse]

My 15 year old daughter has the same problem. Type I means in simple terms that the body (beta cells in pancreas) has stopped to produce Insulin. Type II means in simple terms the body can't use the Insulin it produces and is mainly lifestyle related.

With Type I (again in simple terms) your white blood cells attack the beta cells. No-one know for sure why that happens, some research points to a viral infection, which cause malfunction of the immune system to attack the Insulin producing beta cells in the pancreas. I think there is no proof that it is genetic. But as a matter of fact we don't know for sure what causes the disease.

10 years ago the doctors said "we are 10 years away from a cure"

since that we always were told "we are 10 years away from a cure"

We have researched since we learned about her disease and there are a lot of charlatans promising the blue from the sky.One recommendation was the works of Dr. Robert Young, who had some promising results but we haven't looked into it yet.

[PolestaR]

The people who think insulin will be easily available post collapse are making fun of the OP. The only ones who will have it will be the ones who stockpiled it and can store it. If there is no cure by the time of a collapse I would shoot my own daughter in the head right then and there, if you don't then you really are a masochist.

One reason why pharmas don't really reseach diabetes as much as they could is because at the moment it is recurring income for them. People need the drug, they get it from them, they keep making money. If there is a cure there goes lifetimes of profit. I seriously doubt we will be seeing a "cure" soon, unless it replaces a cheap often recurring income with a much more expensive less often one.

[davep]

I have two members of my family who are athyroidic and are dependent on thyroid pills. Does anyone have any info on this? Are pig/cow based remedies available?

[EnergyUnlimited]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('PolestaR', 'T')he people who think insulin will be easily available post collapse are making fun of the OP. The only ones who will have it will be the ones who stockpiled it and can store it. If there is no cure by the time of a collapse I would shoot my own daughter in the head right then and there, if you don't then you really are a masochist.

[PolestaR]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('EnergyUnlimited', 'Y')ou are overpessimistic here.
Primitive versions of insulin will be available well into a future. It is too low tech to go with smoke.
As I had already pointed, low tech versions, far below current FDA quality standards can literally be made in a basin of someone skilled in the art.
Only basic, trivial auxilary chemicals will be required in addition to pig or bovine pancreases, and those will be still available for long, long time (albeit in limited quantities).
Nevertheless, you will still have to pay for such an insulin in environment where 70% (or more) of family income will go to purchase food. Here I see your problems...

[dooberheim]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('EnergyUnlimited', 'I') could post you one of basic lab scale preps, if you are interested to see, how such manufacturing could possibly look like.
Only some fancy versions (say recombinant human insulin) may no longer be available

[Lighthouse]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('PolestaR', 'I')t's easy to think I'm being pessimistic , after all I just mentioned shooting someone in the head. That to most people sort of puts a lot of dots on their "warning" radar...

[PolestaR]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Lighthouse', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('PolestaR', 'I')t's easy to think I'm being pessimistic , after all I just mentioned shooting someone in the head. That to most people sort of puts a lot of dots on their "warning" radar...

[EnergyUnlimited]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('dooberheim', '
')I would rather make insulin from recombinant sources (E. coli) than animal sources, as the patient is less likely to develop an allergy to it. Once one has the appropriately transformed bacteria, one can grow bathtubs full of it, using basic animal products (milk and meat) and purify the insulin using water based, regeneratable technology. It's not tough at all - I've expressed many proteins in my work, and have often thought of how I could do this without all the oil based materials currently used.

Maybe a plasmid bank, like the seed bank they are starting in Norway?

DK

[manu]

Of the twenty types of diabetis, fourteen are cureable according to ayurveda. But it is a lifestyle chance. Diet and exercise have to be there with the herbal medicines.

[EnergySpin]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('EnergyUnlimited', '
')I assume, that under any societal collapse scenario it will be far easier to get hold of pig pancreases, than to get hold of genetically engineered bacterial cultures.

[dooberheim]

I'd think there will always be pigs and cows to be had. But I think recombinant technology will be too valuable to be lost. A problem is patent and proprietary concerns - I'd hope in a powering down world that plasmids and growth stocks of truly useful drugs could be saved for use in a bank and distributed to those that could use them in their communities.

Of course the chances of that happening are pretty small, but one can hope...

DK

[EnergyUnlimited]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('EnergySpin', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('EnergyUnlimited', '
')I assume, that under any societal collapse scenario it will be far easier to get hold of pig pancreases, than to get hold of genetically engineered bacterial cultures.

[EnergySpin]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('EnergyUnlimited', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('EnergySpin', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('EnergyUnlimited', '
')I assume, that under any societal collapse scenario it will be far easier to get hold of pig pancreases, than to get hold of genetically engineered bacterial cultures.

[smallpoxgirl]

Diabetes:

Type I diabetes is an autoimmune disease. The bodies immune system, for unknown reasons, one day decides to attack and kill all the insulin producing cells in your pancreas. There is no effective treatment other than injecting insulin into the body to replace the insulin that's not being made. Type I virtually always happens in childhood.

Type II diabetes is a metabolic problem. People who are obese and eat bad food need higher insulin levels to keep their blood glucose regulated. Over time the pancreas basically wears out. It can't keep up with the demand. Type II can be treated with a variety of things: There are oral meds. Exercise and weight reduction are huge helps. In the later stages, Type II diabetics may end up needing to inject insulin. Type II diabetes use to be reffered to as "adult onset". In the era of x-box and soda pop, more kids these days are getting Type II than Type I.

The reality of third world diabetes is that Type II almost never happens because people are physically active and don't over eat as badly. Type I diabetics in the third world, I suspect, die pretty quickly. The obvious problem with making your own insulin is that pancreas is also a major source of digestive enzymes. Insulin has to be injected. You go shooting yourself full of digestive enzymes and you are going to be a hurting puppy in short order. Unless you happen to be a PhD biochemist, I seriously doubt that any of you are going to be making your own insulin.

Someone asked about thyroid insufficiency:

That's much easier because thyroid hormone can be taken orally. Armor Thyroid is a preparation that a lot of people use even now for thyroid insufficiency. It's basically just ground up cow thyroid glands in weighed out quantities in a pill.

[EnergyUnlimited]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('smallpoxgirl', 'T')he reality of third world diabetes is that Type II almost never happens because people are physically active and don't over eat as badly.

[EnergyUnlimited]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('EnergySpin', '
')How do Cubans get their insulin? If animal farming was much easier than turning to E.coli they would have done the former rather than the latter after their "peak oil".

[smallpoxgirl]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('EnergyUnlimited', 'I')t is obvious, that guy trained in accountancy (and nothing else) will fail to make insulin, regardless how much effort he makes.
However for a skilled organic chemist (does not need to be a biochemist at all, neither PhD is essential here) the task may prove to be not very difficult one (as long as basic auxilary chemicals and solvents are available).
Everything is easy, if you know, how to do it...

[joelcolorado]

America will lose a huge amount of ppl right up front in the melt down due to our lack of health concerns. There is a new case of diabetes diagnosed every 4 seconds. Without medicine which is expensive, they will all die a slow death.

And whats sad, if ppl walked more, ate right an watched their lifestyle choices, many would never develop diabetes. What a shame. They all want a pill to make it better instead of losing wt. etc.

[Pretorian]

Doesn't one has to be predisposed to diabetes to develop it?