Natural Remedies

What Expanded Bloodwork Panels for Diabetes Should I Request?

Posted by Betty (CA) on 01/07/2022

What are very important blood markers to request for diabetes? I know SOC markers are so generalized and do not hit on important factors. I need the ones that tell a bigger picture for pancreas, liver and kidney function pertaining to diabetes.

I feel if I knew what all to have tested we could come up with a plan, change it as needed to get blood markers in our favor. I do know an expanded vitamin/mineral panel is essential for diabetes control.

I guess the real question would be what are panels for the molecular pathways to stop the damage of glucose to the pancreas, liver and kidneys?

I'm thinking maybe by blocking whatever pathways for glucose then we might be able to turn markers around hopefully.

All responses needed please.

Replied by Art
California
01/08/2022
2125 posts

Hi Betty,

A 25 OH d test for vitamin D level is not normally included in that blood panel, but definitely should be, especially if your brother is overweight. Vitamin D can get stored in fat tissue and it may take extraordinary amounts of vitamin D-3 to get his level above 50, where it should be. Vitamin D is beneficial for almost everyone, but definitely in diabetes.

The reference range for 25 OH d is 30 ~ 100 ng/ml. Being above 50 or in the upper half of the reference range is a good target. They will have to test him 2 or 3 times to figure out what dose he needs to get there, but get there he should.

Mainly on this test, you would be looking to see how things have changed since he has implemented your recommendations. It wouldn't hurt to get his kidney and liver enzyme levels as diabetes can hurt both organs and his condition was quite serious for awhile there, which could have affected both negatively. Please keep us updated on his progress.

Art

Betty
CA
01/08/2022

Thank you, Art! I will add the vitD panel to the request for his doctor. I didn't think about that one.

My brother is sending me bloodwork done on Thursday.

What I know is A1C he says is 287. I am wondering if he is mixed up with glucose levels. They also told him his pancreas is at 10% function. He has no idea how they came up with that 10% number. Just what they told him. BMI 32.8, BSA 2.33. I think he also needs an MRI scan of his liver, pancreas and kidneys. Things don't sound right is why I asked for all bloodwork done that he has copies of, spreadsheet it and compare to maybe see a pattern.

I did send him some more supplements and told him he is in for the fight of his life at this point. He is still young.

Extra supplements added: Beef pancreas supplement, Liver support mixed supplement (milk thistle, artichoke, dandelion), Innovix labs probiotic (he was taking butyrate) maybe take both?, vitC ( I recommended 15-20g per day split, so sent a huge amount), cruciferous veg extract, apple cider vinegar pills, Chanca Piedra, Garlic supplement.

I have read here on this site and the net. Maybe a viral/bacteria component also to diabetes. Have you read this anywhere?

So yes, researching all I can to understand Diabetes and its behaviour.

Art
California
01/09/2022
2125 posts

Betty,

Those are good supplements, but I wouldn't have him take them just yet. If his liver is seriously compromised, it will have to deal with all of those supplements on top of what it already has to do, which could result in a very bad situation for you and your brother!

Milk thistle/Silymarin is well known to help the liver, but if he is allergic to milk thistle, it could damage his liver severely. From the little information you have given, your brother may be in a very precarious situation right now and it may be better to see his test results before you try and do too much at one time. He is your brother and the two of you will do what you think is best, but having those test results first would be very helpful in determining a path forward.

Art

Betty
CA
01/09/2022

Art, you are wise for sure! I thank you so so much.

He says his AST/ALT are not elevated above normal as of yet but haven't seen bloodwork to confirm for myself the history. I can't understand the 10% pancreas function. I thought liver, gall bladder and pancreas worked together?

I did tell him a few minutes ago not to start anything until I see bloodwork. I have an ND appt next week for anti-cancer protocol and will ask him to please go over his bloodwork with me and advise also.

He is in a danger zone. They have him doing 5 insulin shots per day plus 7 other meds.

Art
California
01/10/2022
2125 posts

Betty,

One of the main concerns when it comes to diabetes type 1 is cardiovascular disease and related complications. It is worth noting that melatonin is highly protective of the heart and its functions as outlined in the 250 mg/day melatonin study link that I previously sent you.

Other areas of increased risk are :

Kidneys, neuropathy (nerve damage), eye damage, foot damage, mouth and gum issues and blood vessel inflammation :

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/type-1-diabetes/symptoms-causes/syc-20353011

It is worth mentioning that melatonin can be useful in ameliorating much of this damage at the proper dose.

In the following study, melatonin at 250 mg/day was useful in significantly decreasing elevated oxidative stress levels and inflammation providing added benefit to diabetes with periodontal disease. Keep in mind that these anti inflammatory and anti oxidative stress effects are happening throughout the body, not just the mouth and this is very important for protection throughout the body.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/labs/pmc/articles/PMC7090208/

These protective effects extend to the pancreas and beta cells.

Art

Betty
CA
01/10/2022

Thank you, Art!

He lives in an assisted facility right now. Will be home in May/June.

They will not let him have melatonin under any circumstance because some that lived there were getting "HIGH" somehow from it. Creative people for sure. So, its on my list for when he comes home. Thanks to you I do know about how great it is. I also added it to my protocol.

I requested he have it under medical use but answer was NO. He can't have ACV either for same reason, people getting HIGH somehow. So that is shy I bought the pills, hoping ACV will slide by in that form.

I have been researching alot about beta cells.

I will research the heart/cardiovascular also. I have him taking things for inflammation and heart health such as CoQ10 and others I mentioned.

Such a mess his health is.

I really do thank you for sharing your knowledge on Diabetes. I do not know anyone besides my brother that has it.

Betty
CA
01/17/2022

Brother's A1C is down to 10.6

Glucose down to 160 average 1 hr after meals.

Thank you, Art. He is making progress! Can't wait for him to come home so we can add melatonin.

Art
California
01/18/2022
2125 posts

Hi Betty,

That sounds like a very nice progress! Taking Berberine a half hour before eating will be a little more useful if he tolerates it that way. Adding in intermittent fasting now should help even more with glucose management. When his numbers get a little better, he can give consideration to others such as the kefir we discussed and then if needed chromium and vanadium can be considered. The berberine and melatonin will help protect his beta cells.

Has his pancreas function improved? Both melatonin and berberine can help protect against pancreatitis, which is a complication that he absolutely does not need.

Art

Betty
CA
01/18/2022

Yes, Thank you very very much! I will make sure he knows to take berberine before meals.

He is trying to get 2nd opinion now but finding it hard to get a local dr that takes medicaid. So, no clue about pancreas function really. I still can't wrap my head around how they came to pancreas function of 10% without expanded bloodwork and scans.

Replied by Betty
CA
01/23/2022

Hi Art, would Xlear be good for my brother? It has GSE in it, can't seem to find much on if GSE has side effects with insulin. Thanks.

Betty
CA
01/23/2022

I have found 2 sound studies for GSE and diabetes, so just a little nervous and wanting your opinion.

Art
California
01/23/2022
2125 posts

Hi Betty,

It's a nasal spray and a good one because it is also a biofilm buster, but I don't know what a nasal spray has to do with diabetes? It has GSE and Xylitol. Xylitol is useful for diabetes when taken orally because it is a very good tasting sugar substitute while have a significantly lower glycemic index. GSE is helpful in fighting certain pathogens, but I am not sure that a nasal spray will have significant health benefit for the rest of the body?

Art

Betty
CA
01/24/2022

OH, I am so sorry. I should have mentioned it is for cv19 prophylaxis. Ya, sometimes I think everybody just knows page I am on. I hope you didn't scratch your head too much! :)

Thank you so much for your opinion.

Art
California
01/24/2022
2125 posts

Okay, I get it now, Betty.

Yes, I remember writing about that here :

https://www.earthclinic.com/xlear-for-covid-recovery.html

Yes, it should make an excellent preventative and treatment in diabetics, as should colloidal silver.

https://www.earthclinic.com/coronavirus/colloidal-silver.html

Art

Betty
CA
01/30/2022

OMGosh, Art!!! Such good news better than last time. Thank you, thank you!

Brother's glucose down consistently under 150. A1C is down to 8.9 all week long.

He is down from 2 different shots 5x per day total to only 1 (Lantis only now once per day).

He said the nurse practitioner was snarky when he gave her the list of things I rec'd. She asked him for the list at last appt. He wasn't sure if it was a good idea to share. I said why not? Not her diabetes or body for that matter. She said to him vitamins and such can be dangerous and lead to life threatening harm. I told my brother she is realizing her medical textbook smarts are lacking real world knowledge on personalized healthcare.

He realizes he might be on insulin for the rest of his life as the base but not 2 different ones for a total of 5 shots per day :)

Betty
CA
01/24/2022

Thank you Thank you!

You Rock!

Art
California
01/31/2022
2125 posts

That's great news, Betty! Now that your brother has seen the benefit that the supplement plan that you put together for him is working, he will be anxious to see what else you come up with for him!

I don't know if you have him on it yet or not, but I have seen intermittent fasting get a fairly quick response in type 1 diabetes.

Continued good luck to both of you!

Art

Betty
CA
01/31/2022

Really (intermittent fasting), I had no idea! Thank you for that info. I will research that more.

When he gets home I will put him on kefir and melatonin for sure. He said he hasn't felt this good in years!!!

You and earthclinic are wonderful. Thanks again for all your shared knowledge.

Art
California
01/31/2022
2125 posts

Betty,

Here is just one fairly recent study (April, 2021), but there are many more :

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/labs/pmc/articles/PMC8102292/

It works!

Art

Betty
CA
02/01/2022

Thank you for the paper, Art. You are great!

Wouldn't it be wonderful to reverse diabetes (no shots any more)?!

Art
California
02/01/2022
2125 posts

Yes it would, Betty, but with type 1, that could prove to be very difficult if not impossible. Not trying to be negative, just realistic.

Your brother can certainly have a significantly much better life, with your help, than how it has been though!

Continued success to both of you!

Art

Replied by Betty
CA
03/31/2022

Hi Art, read 2 studies about NO precursor L-Citrulline might be good for diabetics?

Have you run across this in any of your studies?

Art
California
04/01/2022
2125 posts

Betty,

I'm going to assume you are referring to your brother.

L Citrulline (LC) has multiple health effects for diabetes and increasing NO levels is only part of it. LC also significantly lowers some important inflammatory mediators, HbA1C and blood glucose level. The NO increase is likely due to the Arginine level raising effects of LC. Overall these effects by LC could potentially have very modest antihypertensive effects also.

In previous self tests I have done, while increasing arginine in conjunction with raising NAC levels, this will definitely increase NO enough to cause a decrease in blood pressure, however, anytime you increase arginine levels without also increasing Lysine levels, you alter the Arginine/L Lysine ratio and this can make a more viral friendly environment and this could be a problem for a person who has a longstanding virus such as herpes or hepatitis or as in my case, it caused me to keep catching one cold after another which had never happened to me before. Once I added Lysine to my supplement regimen to rebalance the L-Lysine / Arginine ratio, the colds stopped. I decided to go in another direction for blood pressure decrease as I felt 3 supplements multiple times per day were too many pills for blood pressure control.

So if you are considering LC for your brother it is not likely to have as strong of an effect as you may have seen in studies because he is already taking Berberine and I think melatonin which also has inflammatory mediator reducing effects, glucose & HbA1C lowering effects as well as other health promoting effects which LC could be additive, but likely not by as much as studies because the Berberine and melatonin are already active for those purposes.

If you do decide to incorporate LC into his regimen and he starts having viral issues of any type, you may need to use lysine to counter the pro-viral effects of increased arginine levels that LC has shown the ability to increase.

I hope that answers your question(s).

Art

Betty
CA
04/01/2022

Hi Art, Yes for my brother. He is till doing great. Stuck the melatonin in with the GABA supplement :)

Thank you so much for the easy explanation to my question.

I was thinking to have some things as back up if/when something doesn't work any more, ya know. I know it happens with cancer so figure it might could happen with other things such as diabetes.

Art
California
04/02/2022
2125 posts

Very good to hear he is doing well! Other things you can consider, Betty, if your brother is not already taking them are high dose vitamin D as well as the vanadium and chromium I mentioned previously. The high dose vitamin D is a must for him and this individual study does a good job of showing many, but not all aspects of how high dose vitamin D helps very significantly in improving the type 1 diabetic condition as well as quality of life :

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8959789/

Here is an important quote from the study :

>>> ' Our data demonstrated an improvement in HRQoL after supplementation of high doses of cholecalciferol in patients with T1DM. There was an improvement in the EuroQoL utility index (EQ-5D-5L), and in mobility dimension. Additionally, the reduction of albuminuria seems to be an important factor in this context. ' <<<

Art

Betty
CA
04/02/2022

mSOC medicaid for diabetes patients does not allow for specific bloodwork. I can't wait until he comes home. Not even a vitamin D panel is approved.

I have plan B list that includes the things you mentioned that he currently isn't taking.

I have him taking D3+K2 but we have no idea where his level is.

I can not thank you enough for your knowledge and time.