How To Prevent Diabetic Retinopathy & Diabetes Profiteers

Haven’t had a good ‘rant’ in awhile … that is until today! 💪 😀


This time of year the American Diabetes Association (ADAss) has their big fundraising push… in November.

The ADA will usually claim the campaign is all about ‘Raising Diabetes Awareness’ … but that’s just a smokescreen for what they are really doing …begging and pleading for donations.

Knowing all the pain and suffering the ADA’s protocols cause … I find it repulsive when they in turn, beg and plead for donations from the very people they hurt the most… diabetics.

Note: In case you don’t know (most people don’t), the ADA promotes elevated levels of blood sugar for diabetics and they promote a high carb diet for diabetics as well… the combination causes much pain and suffering.

* If you disagree with the statement above … keep reading.

To make matters even more frustrating, all of the major players … Big Food, Big Pharma and Medical Industry corporations all jump in of course, applauding and cheering for the ADA.

And why wouldn’t these corporations cheer for the ADA? The ADA’s policies help pad the pockets of those very same ‘diabetes profiteers’, namely Big Food, Big Pharma and the Medical Industry.

Diabetes Profiteer Spotlight: ASRS

So I was scrolling twitter, minding my own business… when I saw this tweet from the ASRS, which is the American Society of Retinal Specialists. It’s the ‘society’s’ twitter account that sent out the tweet below.

Imagine my excitement when I read the tweet, I, a type 2 diabetic for over 12 years will ‘get the facts’ about diabetic retinopathy… from real ‘specialists’! (ok, this is sarcasm, I couldn’t help myself)

I’m going to read the page that is linked to in the tweet, and record my thoughts … as I read it.

“Facts” from the Link in the Tweet

Remember in the tweet, we were promised “Facts” … and how we could “protect our vision”.

“Diabetic retinopathy is a complication of diabetes that causes damage to the blood vessels of the retina”

Immediately I have a ‘beef’ with the introduction. I loathe the use of the phrase, “Diabetes causes ____”.

It may seem like a ‘trivial’ point, but it’s not.

Diabetes doesn’t cause anything, elevated blood sugars cause diabetes complications.

Want to stop diabetic neuropathy? It’s very simple. Maintain truly normal blood sugars and fears of diabetic neuropathy vanish, fears of all diabetic complications vanish.

I’m getting a bit ahead of myself, let’s continue. The rest of the introduction is just stats about diabetic retinopathy, etc. Nothing noteworthy.

Next up on the ASRS page … a Video

My first thought? This sucks.

You are a diabetic, and you clicked on the link to learn information that was promised, why would I want to listen to a 4 min video?


Where’s the beef!?! Show me the facts! (as promised in the tweet.)

The video titled, “Video: Vision Treatment Breakthrough: People With Diabetic Eye Disease Have a New Option That Could Preserve or Improve Their Vision”.

The commercial… I mean “video” starts off showing an elderly woman who suffered from diabetic macular edema.

Next doctors are shown talking about a new procedure…

“Congress gave National Institute for Health money to conduct research on ways to treat diabetic retinopathy. After a decade and dozens of studies we found new treatments for diabetes and diabetic retinopathy.”

Steve Note: Wow! A decade of research and dozens of studies… I bet they know that maintaining truly normal blood sugars prevents diabetic eye disease in general and diabetic retinopathy specifically! I can’t wait to read their findings on how diabetics can prevent eye damage!

Could the Medical Industry finally do the right thing and actually tell people the truth about how to prevent diabetic complications or at least how to prevent eye disease? We shall see.

More “Facts” from the Specialists at ASRS

“We have definitive proof that a new treatment could likely lead to even better results.”

Blah, blah, blah… Ok, I’m disappointed at this point. I came here wanting to read facts about how I can protect my vision. I didn’t come here to listen to a drug pitch, FFS!

They finally get around to what the “New Treatment” is … <drum roll> … wait for it…. it’s a new drug, that requires monthly visits for eye injections for up to two years… and even then it’s a 50% chance you can improve your eyesight. WOW!

Once again, it seems the Medical Industry is only concerned with selling you drugs (and doctor visits) that ‘treat the symptoms’ but does nothing to help prevent eye disease.

A diabetic would need to take MONTHLY eye injections for up to two YEARS! That’s a lot of eye appointments … but if it gives them their sight back, oh wait. Monthly eye injections for up to two years will give the person, a 50% chance at ‘some improvement’ in vision. Again, wow…

The entire video is nothing more than drug propaganda.

Let’s think about THAT for a second. So far there has been NO advice on how to prevent eye disease, instead they are promoting a drug that is injected monthly… for TWO YEARS, and even then it’s a 50/50 proposition that you will have some improvement.

It’s a win for the Medical Industry, for sure but…

  • the information doesn’t treat the underlying disease
  • It doesn’t prevent the underlying disease…
  • and it only treats the disease symptoms, after the harm has begun.

Note: If a patient hasn’t maintained truly normal blood sugars and has eye disease, hey… I hope there is a drug to restore their sight. But that’s not what this link was to have been about. It was advertised as ‘facts’ to help diabetics PREVENT diabetic retinopathy.

Scumbags.

The rest of the page is ‘diabetic fluff’ or filler material. Information I could have copied and pasted from a million other Medical Industry sites.

Symptoms: They have a short section where they talk about the symptoms of diabetic neuropathy. The stuff every diabetic has heard many times… “diabetes can lead to blah, blah, retinopathy, blah, blah. Symptoms include blurred vision, blah, blah, blah.

Causes: Next is a brief section on the causes of diabetic retinopathy. I was hopeful that HERE the ‘specialists’ would provide diabetics some meaty information on how to avoid diabetic eye disease!

Once again they failed. Oh sure, they mention blood sugar levels…

The primary cause of diabetic retinopathy is diabetes—a condition in which the levels of glucose (sugar) in the blood are too high.

The above quote is true … but woefully incomplete.

It’s the moral equivalent of telling diabetics to, “eat a healthy diet”.

As is always the truth when it comes to nutrition and diabetes care, the devil is in the details. Details the ‘specialists’ at ASRS didn’t think necessary to provide.

Tell us the blood sugar levels when eye disease begins! Words like ‘low’ and ‘high’ mean nothing… and they know it.

The ADA and the Medical Industry promote blood sugars that are TOO HIGH!

How do I know this? I looked at the research and wrote a post, “Blood Sugar Targets & Why”. But in brief, my goal is to be sub 90 mg/dl (5.0 mmol/l) fasting and below 120 mg/dl (6.6 mmol/l) the rest of the time.

Think about it, If I know the advantages of truly normal blood sugars, I know the ADA and the Medical Industry know… especially ‘experts’ in diabetic retinopathy like ASRS.

I am sick and tired of ‘Medical Industry Pros” coddling, cuddling, and enabling diabetics to run ELEVATED blood sugars… all the while they profit off of the pain and suffering their advice causes.

The tweet from ASRS and the page they linked to … is a marketing scam designed to sell you monthly eye injections for up to two years … It is not about preventing diabetic retinopathy.

If the ASRS’s tweet and webpage REALLY was about preventing eye disease, the “specialists” would have given you steps to prevent eye disease.

Since ASRS won’t tell you … I will.

Not only will the advice I’m providing prevent diabetic eye disease, it will prevent all diabetic complications if you follow this advice and maintain truly normal blood sugars.

How To Prevent Diabetic Retinopathy

Note: Under a Prevention heading, the ASRS did recommend more of the standard ‘BS” …

Control your ABCs—A1C, Blood pressure, and Cholesterol

Isn’t that ‘cute’ … control your ABCs, what a load of … carbs. 😀


Here are concrete steps to prevent further damage and if you follow these steps, your body may be able to begin the healing process.

  1. Maintain Truly Normal Blood Sugars – Below 90 mg/dl ( 5.0 mmol/l) fasting and below 120 mg/dl (6.6 mmol/l) all other times. Simple, right? The devil is in the details.

    But how do you do that?
  2. Follow a very low carb meal plan, like my, “A Meal Plan you can LIve With”.
  3. Weight Resistance Exercise ‘most days a week’. Daily walks and hiking are great but you need to perform weight resistance exercise to maintain or build muscle. Muscle is the single largest user of glucose.

    FYI – due to injuries, I’ve been doing body weight exercises for the better part of two years… just push ups, pull ups and jump squats.
  4. Reduce drugs and/or insulin as your blood sugars begin to normalize. This is exactly what I did once my blood sugars fell below 100 mg/dl (5.5 mmol/l).

If you are lucky, over time you can wean off all drugs and insulin, obviously Type 1’s will require insulin but you can greatly reduce your insulin requirements AND more easily maintain truly normal blood sugars.

Diabetes Profiteers

For decades the Medical Industry has been telling diabetics that diabetes is a debilitating disease and the best you can hope for is a slow downward health spiral. They tell us to eat our grains, breads, cakes, cookies, cereals and pasta… just take your drugs like a good diabetic.

This is why I call the Medical Industry, ‘diabetes profiteers’. There are some knowledgeable doctors out there for sure, but the vast majority of them are just like the American Society of Retinal Specialists (ASRS). They ‘talk a good game’ about preventing diabetes complications… but all they want to do is sell you drugs and … more Medical Industry services (doctor visits).

Over twelve years ago I chose to maintain truly normal blood sugars… and I am so glad I did.

Won’t YOU join ME?? … I hope so. ❤

Lower Your Blood Sugar Naturally

If your blood sugars are elevated and you cannot achieve truly normal blood sugars with diet alone…

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