My daughter (13 years old) recently had a glucose tolerance test. Her blood sugar was high, above the cut-off for normal, but not at a level they would consider diabetes. The doctor said this is most likely the result of impairment to the pancreas due to her CF, and may eventually end up in her getting "CF-related diabetes." But, here's my concern, the doctor said there is nothing we can or should do to prevent this progression. He said reducing her sugar intake would be good for her all around health, but supposedly it won't prevent her from getting diabetes. Has anyone had experience with this? Suggestions?
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Elevated blood sugar
- Thread starter anonymous
- Start date
There are debates on both sides of the coin re: does eating sugar cause diabetes quicker. My non-medical logic would say if there's a glucose tolerance issue, than eating quite a bit of sugar would seem to wear the pancrease down more quickly than not eating sugar. There will be others that will dispute my "opinion".
Sugar is a good way for CFers to gain weight, so if weight gain is an issue, than your Dr may suggest she continue to eat sugar and he will just keep monitoring it. A natural way to control the blood sugars if she eats sugar is exercise. If she has the energy to exercise, this would be beneficial to controlling blood sugar levels & good for her lungs too. Good luck. <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0">
Sugar is a good way for CFers to gain weight, so if weight gain is an issue, than your Dr may suggest she continue to eat sugar and he will just keep monitoring it. A natural way to control the blood sugars if she eats sugar is exercise. If she has the energy to exercise, this would be beneficial to controlling blood sugar levels & good for her lungs too. Good luck. <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0">
Sugar should not be used as a way to gain weight. There are other options for Cfers. Loading your body up with sugar is never the way to go. I do agree with the "more sugar, faster deterioration of the pancreas" theory that the last poster mentioned. But at this point there are many opinions about it, but not any solid facts to back up either argument. My husband is 24 with Cf and he stays away from sugars as much as he can. He has not had any of the CFrelated diabetes, he did a glucose tolerance test too with good results. He gains weight by eating twice the amount of calories the "average" person his age,weight, height would eat, and twice as many grams of protein as he weighs. I think he does pretty good-6ft 185-190lbs, and he doesn't use sugar to gain weight.
reducing sugar intake will not stop diabetes. it will make the sugar readings lower and make you think everything is fine and dandy, but once you have diabetes you have it for life, even if your readings are normal on a low sugar diet. sugar does not cause diabetes or lead to the destruction of the pancreas [cf and cf alone does this], it only triggers symptoms of diabetes. if she wants to continue eating normally she might need to take tablets or insulin.
There is no medical proof to agree with or deny this last post (that reducing sugar intake will not stop or slow. And once you have diabetes, you DO NOT always have it for life. In the case of a CF patient, it probably will be lifelong because diet (not sugar for sure, just diet in general) and weight can affect someones suseptibility to diabetes. Like severely overweight people (300+lbs) sometimes develop diabetes (as well as other health problems), and when they loose the weight (exercise) and chance their diets, they are no longer "diabetic" or require insulin. Therefore, under some circumstances, diabetes is not forever.
I feel the need to post my feelings on something that i feel is very important. If you post something on this site about specific MEDICAL issues and it is just you opinion, please make that known. There is nothing wrong with discussing various medical aspects of CF and its issues and expressing your opinion. But we all need to be careful about how we present things. Unless someone lists medically supported reasons, documentation...It's safe to assume that it is just someones opinion, and there is no medical proof behind it. I just know that people out there searching for explanations about CF sometimes jump at the first peice of advice anyone offers them, and I don't want anybody getting hurt as a result of that. So please be careful about how you offer advice.
I feel the need to post my feelings on something that i feel is very important. If you post something on this site about specific MEDICAL issues and it is just you opinion, please make that known. There is nothing wrong with discussing various medical aspects of CF and its issues and expressing your opinion. But we all need to be careful about how we present things. Unless someone lists medically supported reasons, documentation...It's safe to assume that it is just someones opinion, and there is no medical proof behind it. I just know that people out there searching for explanations about CF sometimes jump at the first peice of advice anyone offers them, and I don't want anybody getting hurt as a result of that. So please be careful about how you offer advice.
I was going to mention the same thing that was just mentioned. My sister (non CF) did weigh over 300 lbs and was diabetic. She lost 50 pounds just by not eating sugar & her blood sugars were normal & the Dr retracted the diabetes diagnosis. I'm guessing if she gets up that high again in her weight, the diabetes will resurface, but if she would just stay at a lower weight forever, I have no reason to "think" that she will have the diabetes again. Just my opinion-could be wrong.<img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0">
just realised i forgot to put a 'not' after the 'does' in my other post <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-blush.gif" border="0">
anyway, i dont think you understand what im saying. once you have diabetes you have it for life, but it does not mean you will have SYMPTOMS [very different from the disease name ok]. thats like saying one doesnt have cf because they are perfectly fine. i am classed as a diabetic. i do not have symptoms, i eat normally and i do not take medication for it. but if you put me through surgery or give me steroids my diabetic symptoms come back, they are my triggers. if my diabetes were to go completely, this would never happen and i should be able to do/take those things with a breeze. it hasnt disappeared, its dormant, but i still have it. i once had the same idea as you but then i kept wondering why the word 'diabetic' was written over all my documents and test forms despite having no SYMPTOMS. didnt take long to figure it out.
dont know how to take your little speech. lets just say everyone knows i dont write balony on here. i also dont reply to things i know nothing about.
anyway, i dont think you understand what im saying. once you have diabetes you have it for life, but it does not mean you will have SYMPTOMS [very different from the disease name ok]. thats like saying one doesnt have cf because they are perfectly fine. i am classed as a diabetic. i do not have symptoms, i eat normally and i do not take medication for it. but if you put me through surgery or give me steroids my diabetic symptoms come back, they are my triggers. if my diabetes were to go completely, this would never happen and i should be able to do/take those things with a breeze. it hasnt disappeared, its dormant, but i still have it. i once had the same idea as you but then i kept wondering why the word 'diabetic' was written over all my documents and test forms despite having no SYMPTOMS. didnt take long to figure it out.
dont know how to take your little speech. lets just say everyone knows i dont write balony on here. i also dont reply to things i know nothing about.
Hi to the first post!
I am 23 and i have CF related diabetes. It is very common, as the CF population is generally growing older, new things are popping up. I was diagnosed with it about three years ago. Because the pancrease of a cfer is cystic and fibrotic (get it?<img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif" border="0">) over time it has difficultly releasing insulin during digestion. Wether or not she "has it" depends on the condition of her pancrease, NOT her diet. Managing CFRD takes a little getting used to, but it's not nearly as involved as with type 1 or 2. I have no diet restrictions, ( I don't eat many sweets as it is), and I simply inject a few units of fast acting insulin right when I eat. Some people use long acting a few times a day, some are able to take pills. I check my blood sugar every so often.
My overall health improved once I started using insulin regularly, and it has made weight gain eaiser. Insulin is what lets your cells use the sugars in food, which is what produces your cellular energy. Before i was diagnosed, I was eating all the time, loosing weight, tired.
The Cf foundation has some good literature on CFRD that is written for patients. I think is is available on the web site, please look it up, it will explain things much better.
Debbie
23 w/ CF
I am 23 and i have CF related diabetes. It is very common, as the CF population is generally growing older, new things are popping up. I was diagnosed with it about three years ago. Because the pancrease of a cfer is cystic and fibrotic (get it?<img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif" border="0">) over time it has difficultly releasing insulin during digestion. Wether or not she "has it" depends on the condition of her pancrease, NOT her diet. Managing CFRD takes a little getting used to, but it's not nearly as involved as with type 1 or 2. I have no diet restrictions, ( I don't eat many sweets as it is), and I simply inject a few units of fast acting insulin right when I eat. Some people use long acting a few times a day, some are able to take pills. I check my blood sugar every so often.
My overall health improved once I started using insulin regularly, and it has made weight gain eaiser. Insulin is what lets your cells use the sugars in food, which is what produces your cellular energy. Before i was diagnosed, I was eating all the time, loosing weight, tired.
The Cf foundation has some good literature on CFRD that is written for patients. I think is is available on the web site, please look it up, it will explain things much better.
Debbie
23 w/ CF