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Diabetes Not Resulting From An Attacking Immune System

The content of the HealingT1D website is for educational and information purposes only. It does not contain medical advice. The contents of this website are not intended to substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Please always consult with your doctor, physician, or other qualified healthcare professional before making any adjustments to your routine or healthcare regime. HealingT1D and all associated with it will not be held liable for any risks or issues associated with using or acting upon the information on this site.

Summary: Recent research from the Netherlands suggests Type 1 Diabetes may stem not from immune system dysfunction, but stressed beta cells triggering immune responses. This challenges conventional wisdom, affirming my belief in my immune system’s health. Stress—be it from anxiety, toxins, or environment—is identified as a key factor. Managing stress could restore beta cell health.

I have just tripped over an article in Science Daily that talks about a newly-discovered mechanism through which T1D develops! It highlights how a team of researchers in the Netherlands have found that the root cause of T1D may not be due to a problem with the immune system but a problem with the beta cells. The researchers found that these beta cells are becoming highly stressed and it is this highly-stressed state that causes the immune system to attack them.

This may sound just like a matter of pedantics but I assure you it is not! This piece of research highlights two key points:

1. The immune system of a Type 1 Diabetic is completely healthy! It is simply doIng its job of clearing away defective cells from the human body.

2. The reason these insulin-producing beta cells are cleared away from the immune system is because they are HIGHLY STRESSED!

This research therefore really confirms to me what I have suspected for quite a while now… My immune system is healthy. (My mum always told me she thought I had very good core health. You know, I never even get a head cold!!) Instead, it is an external factor that is causing my beta cells to become stressed and therefore be ‘attacked’ by my immune system. This external factor is stress, with stress in this context meaning anxiety, anger, fear and toxins of the environment and body.

Please note how, in the paragraph above, I used the present tense when I said ‘is causing my beta cells to become stressed and therefore be ‘attacked’ by my immune system’. That was no mistake. The estimated life span of beta cells is 1-3 months. Therefore, the beta cells in my body that were supposedly burnt out forty years ago were not the only ones I was meant to get. My body should have replaced them with new ones within three months. That didn’t happen. So, what must be happening instead, is that my body is choosing to KEEP destroying, or not growing, beta cells on a continuous basis. My beta cells must be continuously stressed and therefore continually removed by my immune system. Now I just need to remove enough stress from my body to take it out of the continuous fight-or-flight state that it is in so that my beta cells are no longer deemed to be ‘stressed’ by my immune system.

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Natalie Leader

Natalie is a blogger with Type 1 Diabetes. Natalie's special gifts are questioning the status quo and being a rebel. She is using these gifts to question medical 'knowledge' and find a true cure for Type 1 Diabetes.

The content of the HealingT1D website is for educational and information purposes only. It does not contain medical advice. The contents of this website are not intended to substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Please always consult with your doctor, physician, or other qualified healthcare professional before making any adjustments to your routine or healthcare regime. HealingT1D and all associated with it will not be held liable for any risks or issues associated with using or acting upon the information on this site.

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October 18, 2021

Taking Control of My Health

An Academic Essay on Type 1 Diabetes

Written Whilst Training As A Psychotherapist

The content of the HealingT1D website is for educational and information purposes only. It does not contain medical advice. The contents of this website are not intended to substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Please always consult with your doctor, physician, or other qualified healthcare professional before making any adjustments to your routine or healthcare regime. HealingT1D and all associated with it will not be held liable for any risks or issues associated with using or acting upon the information on this site.

Summary: This essay challenges Cartesian medical views of Type 1 Diabetes, advocating psychotherapeutic approaches rooted in holistic ‘bodymind’ theories from Freud to contemporary neuroscience. Highlighting Candace Pert’s neuropeptide research and Allan Schore’s affect regulation theory, it proposes that emotional factors in early life may influence diabetes onset, expanding psychotherapy’s potential role.

Today, I have decided to publish an essay I wrote several years ago as part of my training as a psychotherapist. It was really the turning point for me when I realised that Type 1 Diabetes could actually be curable. I hope that, by publishing it, I may inspire you too to embrace the possibility of healing T1D that lies before us now.

Is psychotherapy relevant in preventing the onset of medical conditions that are not considered to have a psychosomatic root? Discuss with reference to the medical diagnosis of ‘Type 1 Diabetes’.

Introduction

Type 1 diabetes is a chronic, life-altering medical condition that currently affects approximately 400,000 people in the UK (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International, 2010). Recent estimates suggest that at least 29,000 of these are under nineteen years of age and that this incidence rate is expected to double in the UK by 2020 (National Paediatric Diabetes Audit Report, 2016). Despite the large prevalence, little is still known about its aetiology and a cure does not seem imminent. This essay will explore the relevance of psychotherapy to preventing the onset of type 1 diabetes (hereafter referred to as ‘diabetes’). First, diabetes will be defined according to Western medicine’s concepts, highlighting how its foundation is based on Cartesian dualism. From here, psychotherapeutic theories of the body will be explored, with a particular focus on Freudian and Reichian concepts. The limitations of these theories, which are again based on Cartesian dualism, will be discussed and the more holistic view offered by body psychotherapy, and its concept of an integrated ‘bodymind’, will be considered to gain a broader insight into how the understanding of diabetes could be understood. This essay will then extrapolate the concept of ‘bodymind’ using the work of Candace Pert on neuropeptides and the work of Allan Schore on affect regulation to consider how such concepts could be applied to diabetes. Finally, through the use of a vignette, the theoretical understanding gained through the exploration in this essay will be applied to psychotherapeutic practice and its relevance confirmed.

Owing to space limitations, a complete investigation into the field of mind-body psychotherapeutic and philosophical theory is impossible. The highly influential, early mind-body theories of Freud’s followers Ferenczi (1917/1980), Ferrari (Carvalho, 2012) and Groddeck (1977) will not be addressed here. Furthermore, when considering the application of neuroscience to the understanding of diabetes, Damasio’s (1994) deconstruction of the mind-body split will be discounted in favour of the affect regulation theory of the neuroscientist Allan Schore (2003), who draws on and expands Damasio’s work.

Defining Diabetes

Western medicine is based on the philosophy of Cartesian dualism, which posits that the mind and body are made of different substances and therefore must be distinct entities (Descartes, 1999; Descartes, Sanderson Haldane, & Thomson Ross, 1641/1993). This mind-body binary has led to medicine defining diabetes as a bodily disease. The mechanism of onset is understood to result from the body’s immune system destroying beta cells in the pancreas that are responsible for producing insulin (Diabetes.co.uk, 2018). Insulin, originally considered to be a hormone, is known to regulate blood sugar levels. The body cannot survive long without insulin, thus diabetics are required to invoke a complex treatment regime that includes blood tests, insulin injections and intensive management of their diet and lifestyle.

Despite many years of research into diabetes, the aetiology of this ‘misfiring’ of the immune system, as well as possible methods of prevention of the disease, remain elusive (Atkinson, 2005). Nevertheless, in recent years, medical researchers have been able to acknowledge that autoimmune disorders, such as diabetes, often co-occur with other autoimmune disorders (Castiblanco & Anaya, 2007), suggesting the cause of diabetes is larger than a simple targeting of the immune system against the beta cells of the pancreas. Indeed, the lack of conclusions concerning the underlying mechanisms of diabetes has now pushed researchers to investigate new avenues. One of the most promising appears to be that of the importance of the intestines in the onset of diabetes. Initial findings are highlighting a possible role for the immune-mediating microbiota of the intestines in promoting autoimmunity and beta-cell function, both of which can precipitate diabetes (Silverman, et al., 2017).

Against this background of a Cartesian medical understanding of the aetiology of diabetes, psychotherapy understands its place in the treatment of diabetics as being one of focusing on the stressful and disruptive period of adjustment following the diagnosis (Harvey, 2015), along with the mental health consequences, which include, inter alia, eating issues (Peveler et al., 2005), depression (Anderson, Freedland, Clouse, & Lustman, 2001) and anxiety (Cox et al., 1987).

Let us now turn to the psychotherapeutic theory of the mind-body relationship to progress the argument for how diabetes can be understood aside from the current view of medicine.

Early Psychotherapeutic Approaches to the Body: Freud and His Followers

Sigmund Freud, often thought of as the ‘father of psychoanalysis’, provided a foundation of theory for the relationship between mind and body. Freud’s sexual drive theory held the body and its experience as a central tenet. Freud defined a drive as existing ‘on the frontier between the mental and the somatic’ (1915/2001, p. 121). In other words, a drive can be understood as a process of representing the body in the mind. Freud (1923/2001) maintained this position throughout his vast body of theory. However, it is important to note that Freud’s stance had an inherent Cartesian dualism (Livingstone-Smith, 1999). He continually theorised about the interconnection between the mind and body, and thus was treating them as separate entities.

Freud’s consistent theoretical recognition of the bi-directional interplay between the two separate entities of mind and body was enriched by many proponents in the psychoanalytic field. The first notable contributor was Jung (1966) with his concept of the somatic unconscious. He posited that the somatic unconscious was a kind of physiological unconscious and that this had to, somehow, be connected to the psyche on both a conscious and an unconscious level. However, he did not explain what this connection was. In contrast to Freud and Jung, Winnicott (1949/1975) proposed that, at the start of life, the psyche (mind) and soma (body) co-exist as a mutual whole, rather than existing in a dualistic manner. He termed this the ‘psyche-soma’ and proposed that the mind emerges and differentiates itself from this integrated state during early childhood. Then, later in healthy development, he proposed that the mind then anchors itself back in the soma (Winnicott, ibid.). Thus, Winnicottian theory posits that, for the majority of a person’s life, the body is an embedded part of the psyche. However, whilst all of the aforementioned psychoanalytic theories gave an early insight and some initial developments into the relationship between mind and body, none engaged with the question of how to work with the body in a clinical situation.

The first psychoanalyst who worked with the body proper was Wilhelm Reich (Goodrich-Dunn & Greene, 2002). Reich expanded Freud’s ideas about the effect of childhood experiences on development. For Reich, early trauma resulted in disruptions in the flow of energy around the body, resulting in energy blocks that he termed ‘character armouring’ (Reich, 1972). He felt these were evident in the way a person held and moved their body in space. Thus, for Reich, the mind and its experiences fundamentally influenced the physical functioning of the body. However, Reich’s work did not become widespread during his lifetime due to an injunction by the US Government against his distributing information and because, having violated this injunction, he was imprisoned (Sharaf,1994). The psychoanalytic community therefore distanced themselves from Reich and excluded him from the International Psychoanalytic Association. This lead to a feeling of illegitimacy over Reich’s work and a dearth of attention being focussed on the body and bodily experience in psychoanalytic theory (Chodorow, 1995; Heuer, 2005). From here, the exclusion of the body from psychotherapeutic treatments proliferated and a trend towards behavioural and cognitive approaches to psychotherapy began (Mahoney, 1977). The ‘talking cure’ of psychotherapy was thus created and defined, with diabetes being left as a medical condition whose aetiology is not of concern to the psychotherapist.

An Alternative Approach: Body Psychotherapy’s ‘Bodymind’

One of the most recent, and successful reintroductions of the body into psychotherapy comes from the body psychotherapist Nick Totton. Totton (2003) bases his work on the body around the concept of the ‘bodymind’. Totton (ibid.) postulates that, in contradiction to the theorists outlined so far, there is no such thing as a mind-body split. Instead, there is ‘mind-body holism’, where the idea that a person’s problem is either psychological or neurological or biochemical or mental no longer exists. Instead, the bodymind is made up of and represents all of these elements, intertwined as a whole. Therefore, from a body psychotherapy perspective, diabetes would no longer be conceptualised as a purely physical disease.

So how does body psychotherapy, with its understanding of the unity of body and mind, re-define and work with ‘physical’ health conditions, such as diabetes? Unfortunately, this is where Totton becomes silent. There are no references to working with chronic illnesses such as diabetes that, by Western medicine’s standards, would be termed ‘physical illnesses’. Totton (2003) seems to only venture towards illnesses and physical manifestations that would, even by Western standards, be deemed ‘psychosomatic’, such as anorexia and bulimia. So does that mean there is no possibility for a different, holistic view of diabetes? For an answer, let us keep in mind Totton’s ‘bodymind’ whilst considering the work of the neuroscientist Candace Pert.

Candace Pert’s Neuroscientific Research on Neuropeptides

Candace Pert’s research focuses a particular kind of molecule in the body called ‘peptides’. These are small protein-like molecules, which are made up of a string of amino acids. They were originally thought to exist only in the body. However, Pert and her team have identified that these molecules are, in fact, also produced in the brain and exist simultaneously in both body and brain (Pert, 1997). Of particular interest for this essay are the peptides that are specifically produced by nerve cells in the brain, known as ‘neuropeptides’. Pert and colleagues highlight how neuropeptides and their receptors enable a psychosomatic network to exist in the body, where emotions and bodily functions exist in a multidimensional communication system (Pert, Ruff, Weber & Herkenham, 1985). This is because the neuropeptides produced in the brain have receptors into which they fit located throughout the body and influence the functioning of the organs directly.

Pert has conducted a large amount of research on the role of neuropeptides in the brain, particularly in the limbic system. The limbic system is responsible for attachment, affect regulation and aspects of emotional processing. Two of the main components of this system are the amygdala and the hypothalamus. These two brain regions have been found to have neuropeptide receptors that exist in a density forty times higher than that in other areas of the brain (Pert, 2002). Pert (1997, p. 33) therefore hypothesises that neuropeptides are the ‘obvious candidates for the biochemical mediation of emotion’. She further suggests that, since these neuropeptides are found distributed throughout the body and in all of the major organs, body and emotions are highly interlinked via these neuropeptides. Pert’s (ibid.) therefore supports Totton’s view of a holistic ‘bodymind’.

Insulin has now been re-identified as a neuropeptide (Hendricks, Roth, Rishi, & Becker, 1983). Insulin works in the body via the pancreas and this is a location where neuropeptide receptors have been found (Pert, 1997). Furthermore, in the brain, insulin has been found to be received by insulin receptors in the limbic system, namely the amygdala and hypothalamus (Pert, ibid.). Thus, insulin can also be seen to directly link emotions and the body in a bi-directional relationship. This author therefore postulates that the onset of diabetes can no longer be understood as simply resulting from a purely organic ontogeny since the mental and physical systems are so highly interlinked by neuropeptides. Instead, it is possible to conceive of the dysregulation of insulin resulting from either emotional dysregulation or bodily dysregulation. In other words, psychological distress can impact the onset of diabetes as much as physiology. Whilst this hypothesis is significant, it is not a new idea. In the 1960s, Solomon & Moos (1964) challenged the prevalent Cartesian dichotomy by highlighting how emotional states can significantly alter the course and outcome of biological illnesses previously considered to be purely somatic. However, again, diabetes was not under the microscope in that piece of research.

Another part of Pert’s (2002) research that is relevant to this essay concerns her work on the immune system. Pert (ibid.) discusses how she can also no longer delineate between the immune system and the combined psychosomatic (brain/body) network outlined above. Neuropeptides have been found to penetrate the immune system, as much as the endocrine and nervous systems, existing in mutual close physical and communicative contact (Blalock, Harbour-McMenamin, & Smith, 1985). Specifically, emotion-affecting neuropeptides, like insulin, have been found to directly control the routing and migration of monocytes, which are pivotal in the immune system. One of the roles of monocytes is to communicate with beta cells, such as those which become dysregulated and attack the pancreatic cells during the onset of diabetes. Indeed, Pert (1997) discusses how the cells of the immune system also possess receptors for neuropeptides and also make the neuropeptides themselves. In other words, the cells of the immune system are also producing and receiving the chemicals that are responsible for emotion.

Interestingly, the entire lining of the intestines is lined with cells that contain neuropeptides and neuropeptide receptors (Pert, et al., 1985). This highlights how, as well as the emotional centre of the brain, the gut and immune system are also governed by neuropeptides. The role of the gut in the neuropeptide system is an interesting finding especially since Western medical research is now focusing on the role of the gut in the development of diabetes. It would appear that Western medicine, is catching up with the ancient holistic philosophies of the East. Chan, Ho, & Chow (2001) highlight how, in the Far East, there is a more holistic focus on body, mind, cognition, emotion and spirituality, which have resulted from the philosophies of Buddhism, Taoism and traditional Chinese medicine. This holistic view intuitively understands the role of the gut in the brain. For example, Young (2006) highlights an old Japanese saying ‘A true man thinks with his belly’ and the Chinese discipline of Tai Chi considers the belly as the ‘Dan’tien’, the centre of the body, the source of all action.

Allan Schore: Affect Regulation And The Right Hemisphere Of The Brain

With an understanding of how the immune system is connected to emotion regulation via the psychosomatic network of neuropeptides, the work of Allan Schore becomes highly relevant. Schore (2003) is emphatic about the role that affect plays in regulating the maturation of the right hemisphere of the brain, particularly in the first three years of life. The right brain contains the emotion-processing limbic system. Furthermore, it is also responsible for the production of neuropeptides, including insulin, and thus regulates the autonomic nervous system via reciprocal connections with the body (Schore, ibid.; Pert, 1997; Wittling, Block, Schweiger, & Genzel, 1998). The maturation of the right brain is experience-dependent, specifically relying on the social-emotional experiences embedded in the attachment relationship with the primary caregiver (Schore, 2003). Prolonged periods of a lack of ‘good enough’ intersubjectivity (Winnicott, 1965), resulting in trauma, can occur as a result of neglect, abuse or even prolonged misattunement of a primary caregiver. These misattunements result in the infant regulating their own emotional state, since they are unable to rely on the affect regulation of their primary caregiver (Lachmann & Beebe, 1997). The infant is required to use all of their as-yet underdeveloped right-brain functionality to re-regulate themselves, thus leaving little capacity for the normal development of right-brain functions (Schore, 2001, 2002).

The underdevelopment of the right-brain capacities due to affect dysregulation can be considered highly relevant to the onset of diabetes. As highlighted above, the limbic system, responsible for insulin production and affect regulation, is contained within the right hemisphere. Therefore, the combination of Schore’s (2003) findings of the impact of affect dysregulation with Pert’s (1997) psychosomatic network of neuropeptides shows how a poor relationship with the primary caregiver can lead to reduced growth in the right hemisphere, which includes the cortex necessary for insulin production. Substantial research already exists to support this hypothetical link. For example, research into the aetiology of diabetes has found that serious life events in childhood, such as trauma, increase the risk of developing diabetes threefold (Karavanaki, et al., 2008; Littorin, et al., 2001; Nygren, et al., 2015). This reduction in development in the right hemisphere is likely to have a lifetime impact, since it plays a dominant role in the regulation of the physiology, endocrinology, neuroendocrinology and immunology systems throughout the lifespan (Hugdahl, 1995).

The Relevance Of Psychotherapy To The Onset Of Diabetes: Myself As A Case Study

I developed diabetes at 18 months of age. The first 18 months of my life contained great emotional instability. I was raised by a mother who was highly anxious and depressed and therefore I suspect that she was unable to attune to my moment-by-moment needs. Infants of depressed mothers, who are subject to continued affect dysregulation due to mismatches between mother and infant, show higher activation of the right brain (Field, Fox, Pickens, & Nawrocki, 1995), which has been linked to increased psychopathology in both infants and adults (Davidson et al., 1990). This essay has shown how psychopathology equates to bodily pathology, via dysregulation and sub-optimal development of the neuropeptide system in the right brain. Therefore, it is possible to theorise that my mother’s depression caused sub-optimal development of the neuropeptides and neuropeptide receptors in the right-brain limbic system, which resulted in the onset of the ‘medical’ condition of diabetes.

How can psychotherapy help with the onset of diabetes? At diagnosis, the majority of the beta cells in the pancreas, which are necessary for insulin production, have been destroyed. However, prior to that point, the pancreas is in the process of shutting down and a patient is deemed to have ‘pre-diabetes’ (Simell, Winter, & Schatz, 2010). Upon identification of members of this at-risk population, psychotherapy’s role becomes vitally important in two ways. Firstly, for infants, it can provide the role of helping the primary caregiver to re-regulate their own affects, thus enabling more effective attunement to take place with the infant. This would reduce the pressure on the infant’s developing right-brain structures, including the limbic system, and therefore reduce or eliminate the resulting underdevelopment. Secondly, for older children, direct psychotherapy, or even play therapy, could be used to help the child themselves contain and regulate their own emotions. This would relieve pressure on the right-brain structures responsible for the regulation of the endocrine, physiological, endocrinological, neuroendocrinological and immunological systems. In this way, psychotherapy could potentially stop or slow down the development of diabetes. Indeed, in his defining text ‘Affect Dysregulation and Disorders of the Self’, Schore (2003) cites Rotenberg (1995, p.59) in support of this conclusion:

‘The importance of the emotional relationships between psychotherapist and client can be explained by the restoration… of… right hemispheric activity. In this way, the emotional relationships in the process of psychotherapy are covering the deficiency caused the by the lack of emotional relations in early childhood.’

This essay has outlined how this ‘covering of deficiencies’ can extend beyond psychopathology to also cover the ‘organic’ disease of diabetes.

Conclusion

This essay has discussed the relevance of psychotherapy to the onset of the chronic illness of type 1 diabetes. The Western medical model of diabetes as a physical disease was presented, with its underlying Cartesian philosophy being drawn into focus. From here, the early positions of psychotherapy to the body were considered, through the psychoanalytic work of Freud and then Reich, and their limitation of a continued Cartesian philosophy was discussed. The clinical work of body psychotherapist Nick Totton was drawn into the discussion to explore a more holistic view of the human being, where the body and the mind are inextricably entwined in the concept of the ‘bodymind’. The lack of attention towards chronic illnesses, such as diabetes, in Totton’s work was discussed and the work of Candace Pert was drawn in to attempt to fill this void. Through her work on neuropeptides, a complex multidimensional relationship between the body and mind was outlined, with a particular focus on neuropeptides’ roles in the immune system, gut and the limbic system. The relevance to diabetes was highlighted and an argument for the onset of diabetes being affected by this multidimensional system was explored. The author therefore concluded that psychotherapy has a crucial role to play in the onset of diabetes, due to its ability to work with, and perhaps ameliorate, the emotional component of this multifaceted system. It is now time for psychotherapy to expand its assumed remit of working only with the mental aspects of life to a more holistic clinical model, where all aspects of the human being and considered and nurtured.

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Natalie Leader

Natalie is a blogger with Type 1 Diabetes. Natalie's special gifts are questioning the status quo and being a rebel. She is using these gifts to question medical 'knowledge' and find a true cure for Type 1 Diabetes.

The content of the HealingT1D website is for educational and information purposes only. It does not contain medical advice. The contents of this website are not intended to substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Please always consult with your doctor, physician, or other qualified healthcare professional before making any adjustments to your routine or healthcare regime. HealingT1D and all associated with it will not be held liable for any risks or issues associated with using or acting upon the information on this site.

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September 13, 2021

Read more about the article An Academic Essay on Type 1 Diabetes

Hippocrates’ Wisdom

An Alternative View On Healing

The content of the HealingT1D website is for educational and information purposes only. It does not contain medical advice. The contents of this website are not intended to substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Please always consult with your doctor, physician, or other qualified healthcare professional before making any adjustments to your routine or healthcare regime. HealingT1D and all associated with it will not be held liable for any risks or issues associated with using or acting upon the information on this site.

Summary: Hippocrates, the ancient Greek physician, founded modern medicine and his principles still guide medical ethics today. Exploring his teachings on nature, illness origins, and patient involvement sparks deep introspection into the author’s healing journey. While some ideas challenge, like self-contribution to illness, they offer holistic insights crucial for balanced health and wellbeing.

Who Was Hippocrates?

Hippocrates was a Greek physician who lived in Ancient Greece (c. 460 – c. 370 BC). He is thought of as the founding father of modern medicine, having established it as a distinct practice from the more spiritual practices of the time. Indeed, Hippocrates’ medical assumptions and beliefs still form the foundation of the Hippocratic Oath that new medical practitioners swear to upon completion of their training.

Why Is Hippocrates Relevant To My Healing Journey?

I think there is great benefit looking back at the old masters, when the field of medicine didn’t exist and spirituality and science were mixed in equal measure. Healing is a force that has always been present in human culture and I wonder whether its nuances may have been easier to see in ancient times, when life and medicine were much less complicated and the body and mind were not considered distinct entities.

I have been having a wander through some of Hippocrates’ writings and have fallen into deep inspiration… I’m having an inspiration bath today! I’m grabbing my rubber duck, my favourite soap and a good book for this one because I think I may be here a while!!

So, without further ado, I’m diving into Hippocrates’ observations and teachings to light my way on my journey…

Hippocrates On The Healing Force:

As I have read more and more on cases of spontaneous remissions (which, to be honest, are never spontaneous… They take months or years of hard work by the person involved… It’s just in the doctors’ eyes that the person was ill one day and well the next!), I have come to realise that our intuition is always available to us and is continuously trying to steer us towards better health. We just need to lean in closely and learn how to listen to it.

So I make it a priority to keep asking myself the question… ‘What are my mind, body and soul really asking for today?’.

Hippocrates On Nature:

I think, when Hippocrates talks about nature here, he is referring to it in ways that, today, we would understand as two distinct components. Firstly, there is the nature around us in the world. Trees, plants, forests, lakes, rivers, the sea, deserts, mountains. Being in nature restores me in a way that the modern world of cities and urban landscapes just doesn’t. I am therefore taking the reminder from Hippocrates to access it more. I need to find ways to make it a more consistent part of my life, even in the hot, arid climate I now live in.

Secondly, I think Hippocrates could also be referring to nature as the internal body system we have, made up of cells and organs and tissues. My own body can heal me better than any medicine, if I just let it. And, each time I am living in excess in any part of my life – diet, exercise, laziness, stress, work, too much sleep – I am contravening this natural force. A striving for moderation is key (without, well, striving because that would to excess too!). Balance is healing.

Hippocrates On The Origins Of Illness:

Now this quote really peeked my interest. When my daughter was a year and a half old, her blood sugars started oscillating quite violently. A diabetologist confirmed my worst fears – she was in the latter stages of developing Type 1 Diabetes. He suggested, as a last resort, that we could try giving her a range of vitamins and probiotics to support her gut health since research was starting to suggest that Type 1 Diabetes may in fact be a gut disorder. Roll forward six years, my daughter still takes her supplements each day and is still a non-diabetic.

Hippocrates’ observation that illness results from ‘small daily sins against Nature’ resonates with how I have come to understand my T1D (see my post on allostatic load for a deeper explanation). It’s great to have my thoughts supported by someone in a different country, in a different time. I feel like we’re both somehow tapping into the universal healing that has always existed across time.

Hippocrates On The Patient’s Contribution To Their Illness:

Okay, so now I’m heading into choppier waters. This section is looking at how the patient may have contributed to their illness. I want to make clear at this point that I am in no way blaming myself, or any other Type 1 Diabetic, for creating their own illness. I don’t think any one of us, having any choice in this disease, would have chosen to have this. This is not about objective choice. But I am starting to come around to the idea that maybe, somehow, my body developed the diabetes in me as a way to process the ‘small daily sins against Nature’ that Hippocrates refers to. And I do believe that these ‘daily sins’ are not necessarily just physical in nature, not just what we eat and drink or how much we exercise or rest or sleep. I think they also fall into the mental, emotional and spiritual fields – the ‘thoughts’ that Hippocrates refers to in the second quotation here. So, again, Hippocrates is supporting those small whispers of intuition I have that say that who I am, how I turn up in the world, and how I respond emotionally and mentally and spiritually, are also important in this healing journey. Healing involves all aspects on myself, not just a selected few.

The two latter quotes of this section don’t sit so easily for me. I guess I need to ask myself the question… How much exactly do I have to give up?? I suspect that there may be a lot of unlearning to do before true healing is obtained. Through my years of healing so far, though, I have learned that you are never presented with more than you can contend with at each stage of healing. You are asked to stretch but not to the point of breaking. It isn’t easy, it isn’t pretty but eventually you get there. Like, right now, I feel that I am being asked to give up sugar. Like, totally. It feels like an impossible stretch. But three years ago, the idea of meditating every day was too much of a stretch. One year ago, forgiving anyone for anything was just too hard. Slowly but surely, the process unfolds and I find that I unfold with it.

Hippocrates On Tools For Healing:

I think that Hippocrates seems to offer a fair number of insights for me to pursue on my journey from here. Of course, as I have just mentioned above, I feel that food is important on a healing journey and the next step of mine is asking me to be sugar-free. I am not ready for that yet but I suspect that my future will possibly contain that truth. I am reminded about how it is often cited that our bodies are made up of the food we eat so do we want our bodies to be made of french fries or healthy proteins, fat and carbohydrates? Of course, when put like that, it’s a no-brainer. But maybe this is where the second quote here comes in… I need to apply the warmth, sympathy and understanding to myself with this current struggle of mine. Removing the judgement around my current struggles with what I eat are more likely to lead to a better outcome than continually beating myself up for what I put in my mouth. Perhaps it is that hostility towards my perceived flawed nutrition that requires the healing, rather than the nutrition itself. I suspect better nutrition would naturally result if it wasn’t dragged through such hostility on a daily basis!

Okay, so maybe there is new ground for me to cover here… The spine and astrology! I know that Dr Joe Dispenza, as well as being a respected healer, is a trained chiropractor. Whilst I don’t necessarily want to do all that training, I wonder if an adventure into the world of chiropractics might yield insights for me. Similarly, I know very little about astrology and I’m not quite sure how it may be useful to me but, until I investigate, I won’t know more!

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Natalie Leader

Natalie is a blogger with Type 1 Diabetes. Natalie's special gifts are questioning the status quo and being a rebel. She is using these gifts to question medical 'knowledge' and find a true cure for Type 1 Diabetes.

The content of the HealingT1D website is for educational and information purposes only. It does not contain medical advice. The contents of this website are not intended to substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Please always consult with your doctor, physician, or other qualified healthcare professional before making any adjustments to your routine or healthcare regime. HealingT1D and all associated with it will not be held liable for any risks or issues associated with using or acting upon the information on this site.

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July 19, 2021

Read more about the article Hippocrates’ Wisdom

Releasing Suppressed Emotions / Taking Control of My Health

Switching Off The Idiot Box!

From A Crutch To A Restraint

The content of the HealingT1D website is for educational and information purposes only. It does not contain medical advice. The contents of this website are not intended to substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Please always consult with your doctor, physician, or other qualified healthcare professional before making any adjustments to your routine or healthcare regime. HealingT1D and all associated with it will not be held liable for any risks or issues associated with using or acting upon the information on this site.

Summary: The author discusses how television was once her lifeline during severe depression, but now it’s time to break free. From therapy to rebuilding her life, she’s evolved. Limiting TV to weekends helped, but its emotional impact and numbing effect no longer align with her healing journey. It’s time to eliminate it for a more balanced life.

Television. My latest addiction to be kicked to the curb.

Nearly ten years ago, I was depressed. Severely depressed. I was so depleted of energy and life force that I could not get up off the sofa. I wanted to be a functioning, even respectable, member of the human race but I couldn’t do it. Life was too hard. I would spend whole days lying on that sofa, every ounce of me willing myself to… JUST. SIT. UP. I couldn’t do it. The idea of leaving the house was terrifying too. I couldn’t walk down my street. I was pervaded by feelings of unknown terror that I just couldn’t explain. All I knew was that the whole world was just too unsafe and I was too weak to be able to cope.

I spent my days watching TV. But the majority of programmes on the telly required too much from me… Following a complex plot or intricate dialogue was beyond me. It wasn’t that I was stupid, far from it, I just wasn’t well. But the chat show, ‘The Jeremy Kyle Show’, was my nectar. I watched repeats for five or six hours a day. It got me through. It was my lifeline and kept me in touch with the world.

Roll forward ten years, which included lots of therapy, some medication and a lot of rebuilding of my life, I am in a completely different place. Now, it’s time to give up the telly. The only time I watch TV now in my life is in the evening. I used to veg out most evenings watching it but I realised how much of my life I was wasting. I wanted to journal, do art, deepen the relationship with my husband, play board games… The telly was absorbing too much of my time. So my husband and I agreed to just keep telly to the weekends. My husband likes watching the telly, particularly movies, so I didn’t want to take that away from him.

This weekend-only telly routine suited me perfectly over the last year or two. However, it doesn’t sit right with me anymore. I have become more highly tuned to what is going on in my life. Consequently, I have become aware of the violence, the swearing and the drama I watch on the telly and its impact on me. Telly is successful because of the emotional sway it has. You enjoy being romanced, scared, deceived or shocked by the programme you watch. I don’t want to feel that way anymore. And I also don’t want to use the telly anymore for the numbing effect it has. If I’m tired or fed up or annoyed about something, I mong out in front of the telly to switch off. Not anymore.

So the next step on my healing journey is to eliminate the television. I’m sure that I will still watch it on occasion but I will be careful with it. On the whole, I will avoid the violent, the dark and the destructive. I am sure there will be the occasional movie or show that still choose to watch but it will the exception, rather than the rule. After all, a life well lived is one of balance and moderation in all areas.

Tell me, readers, do you find that television also has a negative impact on you, your mood or your life? Is it taking you away from activities you would find more meaningful? Have you found some strategies or implement some boundaries around telly consumption that you have found particularly helpful? Please share below!

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Natalie Leader

Natalie is a blogger with Type 1 Diabetes. Natalie's special gifts are questioning the status quo and being a rebel. She is using these gifts to question medical 'knowledge' and find a true cure for Type 1 Diabetes.

The content of the HealingT1D website is for educational and information purposes only. It does not contain medical advice. The contents of this website are not intended to substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Please always consult with your doctor, physician, or other qualified healthcare professional before making any adjustments to your routine or healthcare regime. HealingT1D and all associated with it will not be held liable for any risks or issues associated with using or acting upon the information on this site.

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July 5, 2021

Read more about the article Switching Off The Idiot Box!

Meditation / Spirituality / Taking Control of My Health

Morning Routine

Starting The Day In A Healing Way

The content of the HealingT1D website is for educational and information purposes only. It does not contain medical advice. The contents of this website are not intended to substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Please always consult with your doctor, physician, or other qualified healthcare professional before making any adjustments to your routine or healthcare regime. HealingT1D and all associated with it will not be held liable for any risks or issues associated with using or acting upon the information on this site.

Summary: Waking at 5:30 AM despite being a night owl, the author embraced a morning routine influenced by Hal Elrod’s ‘Miracle Morning’. Initially including SAVERS (Silence, Affirmations, Visualisation, Exercise, Reading, and Scribing), the author tailored it to include: meditation, spiritual reading, soulful writing to God, and prayer. Completing the ritual with self-hugging and Reiki principles, it centres the author’s day spiritually.

Now that I’ve chatted through my new bedtime routine, I guess I need to talk about what happens at the other end of the day… My morning routine! I’ve actually been getting up for a morning routine at 5.30am (or thereabouts!) for probably two years now.

Now, I think it’s important to make clear right from the start that I am NOT a morning person. Well, not a natural morning person, anyway! In all of my iterations of my ideal day, getting out of bed never happens before 10am! So how did I, the archetypal night owl, persuade myself to end up getting up daily at 5.30am…?

Hal Elrod’s ‘Miracle Morning’

A friend first introduced me to this book two years ago. I was pretty frustrated with my life at that point, feeling I wasn’t really in charge of my life or had any real direction. When she handed me this book, I devoured it in a couple of days. To this day, I still recommend it to friends!

The book outlines a model for your morning that you can adapt to any timescale you have available (six minutes to two or more hours!). It is based around six key areas that you focus on each morning, which Hal Elrod calls the ‘SAVERS’:

On top of detailing what to include for each section, Hal gives tips on how to effectively get up in the morning (great for us night owls!) and how to maximise the productivity and profitability of this routine and therefore the rest of your day.

The Miracle Morning was a really great way for me to start the practice of a morning routine and set me up well for finding what works for me from there. However, I did struggle with the idea of exercise that early in the morning – I was barely conscious! I found, as the months went on, my ‘SAVERS’ became ‘SARS’ (yikes!!). My frustration levels built with my lack of discipline. So I looked for inspiration elsewhere.

Adapting The Miracle Morning

I still really liked the Silence (aka meditation), Affirmations, Reading and Scribing (aka journalling) parts of the Miracle Morning but I was having a couple of issues with them. Firstly, being a busy wife and mum, I was frustrated by the time limit imposed on me by the demands of my life. For example, I would get halfway through an amazing chapter in the inspirational book I was reading then realise it was time to get my daughter up for school. Secondly, as time went on and I read more self-help material, I realised that there were other things that I also wanted to include in my morning routine or do in its place that I couldn’t accommodate in the SAVERS routine. So I branched out.

What Is No Longer In My Morning Routine

The first thing I knew had to go was the exercise. I have never enjoyed starting my days with exercise. My body just doesn’t coordinate well first thing in the morning. On top of that, I have high insulin sensitivity and high glucose sensitivity before 10am, with both increasing by a factor of two. Chucking exercise into that mix just turns my blood sugar levels into a disaster for the rest of the morning. So exercise was out.

I also found the visualisation quite boring and didn’t ever really get into that. I tried to improve my technique and by reading both ‘Creative Visualization’ by Shakti Gawain and ‘Vivid Visualisation’ by John Freeman. Despite their stellar Amazon reviews, it just didn’t stick with me. So, reluctantly, visualisations didn’t make my final list. (However, I may return to this. I have just discovered that the highly successful Tony Robbins uses visualisations as part of his morning routine so there must be something in it. I think there is great power in visualisations, if only I can learn how to harness them.).

Affirmations were something else that I removed from my morning routine. I enjoy using affirmations and feel they really help me to shift my mentality around whatever I focus my affirmations on. However, I found that I use them most consistently when I attach them to the action of brushing my teeth every morning and evening. I have stuck my affirmations to my bedroom mirror and repeat them every time I brush!

My Spiritual Hour

I now call my routine my spiritual hour because that’s where I want to place my emphasis during the start of my day. I want the focus to be on my spirituality and practices that support that. I feel this aligns well with my healing and reflects Dr Kelly Turner’s findings about the importance of spiritual practices in a healing journey.

Meditation – 20 Minutes

The first thing I do every morning is meditate. I tend to do this for about 15 to 20 minutes. I do different kinds of meditations because I try to choose something that answers whatever I feel my mind, body and soul need that day. Sometimes, I will just sit in silence (I actually find this the hardest type of meditation to do… My, how my mind wanders and my frustration rises!!). Other times, I might listen to a guided meditation on my laptop. I’ve accumulated a selection of these over the last few years. One set I particularly like is an album called ‘Blessing of the Heart’ by Padma Devi Sumananda at Heart of Living Yoga (available here). Other times still, I might follow a particular course that has called to me. Deepak Chopra’s 21-day meditation challenges are particularly good for that! These incorporate some learning with some meditation that usually involves a mantra. I feel particularly zen after these! Deepak has released some of these for free on YouTube and others are promoted free for limited periods of time through his website.

Writing

The next thing I do is a form of writing. I did feel inspired by Hal Elrod’s suggestion to write and knew that I wanted to keep some form of writing in my spiritual hour. I just didn’t like the whole ‘write about what’s on my mind’ thing. I looked around for ideas to replace this.

I have heard really great things about something called ‘The Morning Pages’, which is outlined in Julia Cameron’s book ‘The Artist’s Way’. Whilst it is outlined as a way to inspire creativity in your life, I know that people use the morning pages for all kinds of levels of exploration. The idea is that you write whatever comes into your mind – yes, every word! – for three pages. It is supposed to bring clarity and inspiration and all host of other amazing things. Unfortunately, it fell flat with me. It just seemed a bit pointless. I did it for a couple of months but didn’t feel I gained anything from it at all. It just didn’t call to this one’s soul!

The writing practice I eventually landed on was Janet Conner’s ‘Writing Down Your Soul’. I love this book!! It gave me a brilliant tool to access my spirituality in a way that felt progressive and fulfilling. Janet Conner outlines a routine to surround and hold the writing practice. She also generously gives a whole series of questions you can seek to ask if you are stuck for your own.

Janet suggests that, as part of the preparation for writing, you could read something that resonates with you. The book I chose for this part is Sarah Ban Breathnach’s ‘Simple Abundance: 365 Days to a Balanced And Joyful Life’. This book is truly beautiful. It consists of 365 passages, one for each day of the year. I think you are supposed to work through each day in turn throughout the year but, as I bought it half-way through the year, I decided to pick a page at random each day. Most days, whichever page I land on, it seems to resonate deeply with something in me that is stirring that day.

So, every morning, that is my writing practice. After I meditate, I read ‘Simple Abundance’ and then I write to God. I tell Him (Her?) how I’m feeling and what is going on for me, then I listen for His answers. They always come. This writing practice reminds me of what Neale Donald Walsch did in his ‘Conversations with God’. I hope to benefit from even a fraction of the wisdom that he gained from his experience!

Prayer

After writing, I usually pray briefly. I like to say thanks for all the good in my life and then I select a prayer from ‘Uplifting Prayers to light your way’ by Sonia Chouquette. This is another book that I really appreciate. Again, I select a page at random. More often than not, there is a great synchronicity with the prayer that I find. It often compliments what I have read in ‘Simple Abundance’ and also often resonates with me. It really makes me feel close to God as speak the words out that are presented to me. I feel at peace.

Other Quick Practices

Mirror Exercise: I learnt this on the desert retreat I went on last year. I grab a mirror and, whilst looking directly into my own eyes, I say ‘I see you. I love you. You are beautiful. I am proud of you.’ It is a really affirming process that, whilst feeling awkward at the start, builds over time. It is a powerful practice to sit with yourself in that feeling.

Hugging: I finish my spiritual hour by giving myself a good hug. I discussed in this post about the importance of hugging and how self-hugging can be as effective as hugging someone else. Every morning, I regulate myself and my body with this quick practice.

Reiki Principles: As I walk out of the room I do my spiritual practice in, I turn off the light. I have placed by the light switch the Reiki principles to repeat. These are:

So that’s it! That’s my morning routine.

Of course, there are days I don’t do it. There are also times when I step away from this practice and do something else. For example, that happened when I decided to focus last month on my forgiveness practice. I spent my spiritual hour each morning doing that. But I always return to this. It is my home.

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Natalie Leader

Natalie is a blogger with Type 1 Diabetes. Natalie's special gifts are questioning the status quo and being a rebel. She is using these gifts to question medical 'knowledge' and find a true cure for Type 1 Diabetes.

The content of the HealingT1D website is for educational and information purposes only. It does not contain medical advice. The contents of this website are not intended to substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Please always consult with your doctor, physician, or other qualified healthcare professional before making any adjustments to your routine or healthcare regime. HealingT1D and all associated with it will not be held liable for any risks or issues associated with using or acting upon the information on this site.

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June 21, 2021

Read more about the article Morning Routine

Exercise / Hydration / Increasing Positive Emotions / Nutrition / Spirituality / Taking Control of My Health / Yoga

Bedtime Routine

A Better End To The Day For Better Healing

The content of the HealingT1D website is for educational and information purposes only. It does not contain medical advice. The contents of this website are not intended to substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Please always consult with your doctor, physician, or other qualified healthcare professional before making any adjustments to your routine or healthcare regime. HealingT1D and all associated with it will not be held liable for any risks or issues associated with using or acting upon the information on this site.

Summary: Previously resisting structure, the author has finally embraced a bedtime routine for healing. Yoga stretches, skincare, dental care, hydration, gratitudes, and prayer now anchor her evenings. Planning the next day ensures productivity without stress. Fiction reading and experimenting with sound frequencies add relaxation. Candlelight aids skincare, all in pursuit of restful sleep and holistic healing.

The Bedtime Routine. I don’t know why I have resisted this concept for such a long, long time. It could be that it’s because I’m a night owl. I love those deeply quiet and restful hours of the early morning when the world is asleep and peaceful. Or it could be because, as a parent, those few hours after the little ones are asleep seem so short and so full of possibility.

Whatever the reason, I resisted and resisted giving my evening hours to something as structured as a ‘routine’. It felt onerous and long-winded and, well, just hard work at the end of a long day. But I knew that it was a brilliant time to be working on healing, rather than my total number of accumulated telly hours, so I took the plunge. And, as is my way, I went at it with full force…!

Designing My Bedtime Routine

I considered many options for my bedtime routine. Audiobooks, reading, baths (with or without essential oils, epsom salts and all other kinds of healing products), hydration, reflections on my day, gratitudes, affirmations, yoga, stretching, journalling, diffusing essential oils, facial cleansing routines, drinking herbal teas and so on…!

I started to realise that, if I didn’t narrow down my to-do list, I would actually still be awake in the early hours of the morning but, this time, it would be because I was still slogging through my bedtime routine! I decided to trust my intuition on this and go with what I felt drawn towards. Some things jumped out at me immediately…

Yoga Stretches (10 Minutes)

I felt some yoga stretches before bed sounded great. I love yoga and always feel restored and relaxed after spending some time on the mat. However, it’s something I only seem to do sporadically these days so the idea of incorporating that into a daily routine ticked both boxes. So yoga was in.

Cleanse, Tone And Moisturise (5 Minutes)

My appearance, and more importantly how I feel about my appearance, has become more important to me over the preceding months. I have never really invested in my skin and have always found beauty regimes to be too much effort for too little output. But a simple cleansing and moisturising routine felt doable. So that made the list.

Brush And Floss Teeth (5 Minutes)

Of course, dental hygiene goes without saying! I would like to have teeth when I get to old age and diabetics are at increased risk for a whole host of dental problems, including being more prone to gum disease. As part of my intention to reduce toxins in my life, I considered using herbal toothpaste. I actually started this and bought a well-known brand. However, within three months of using this, I was found to have my first ever filling. Perhaps coincidence, perhaps not. But I didn’t want to risk any more problems so I’ve scrubbed that idea and gone back to standard toothpaste. So… Teeth brushing (with a standard toothpaste!), check. Flossing, check.

A Glass Of Water (1 Minute)

Hydration. So, as you know, I now live in an extremely hot desert climate so hydration is on my mind at all hours! I never used to drinking water at night because it often disrupted my sleep due to much needed loo break. However, out here, I am now waking up each morning feeling very thirsty and that doesn’t create a good bodily environment for healing. A glass of water is now part of my night-time ritual.

Gratitudes (5 Minutes)

I tried to make a gratitude practice part of my morning routine but I struggled to name lots of things I was grateful for when I’d just staggered out of bed! I always seemed able to remember to be grateful for my sleep but that was about it!! I hope that, by making this part of my evening routine, I will be able to reflect on my day and all the wonderful moments in it. I hope it will therefore strengthen and deepen my gratitude practice. For now, I will start with three gratitudes every night.

Prayer (1 Minute)

How much did I resist prayer in my life?? Wow, it has hardcore! For years, I didn’t want to pray to a god that I felt had cursed me with diabetes. I didn’t feel He/She deserved as much as a hello from me! I think that the addition of prayer into my night-time routine shows just how far I have come on my healing journey already. I don’t have any set format for praying. I just treat it as a time for me and God to talk, for me to say whatever’s on my mind and, when I can, offer gratitude for all that He/She has done for me and given me.

Plan For The Next Day (18 Minutes)

i have been getting more into self-development lately and I have heard again and again the phrase ‘those who fail to plan, plan to fail’. I don’t know how much that is true but I do know that, on the days that I have made a plan for my time, I get a whole lot more done than on the days when I don’t plan. So planning is in there. But please note that this is not an all-out plan-every-minute kind of thing. It’s more ‘these are the things I want to get done and what is the best order I can do it in’. If I plotted every minute of my day, I dissolve into a stress heap when I got five minutes behind schedule. That isn’t good for creating a stress-free environment for my healing to take place!

Reading Fiction (15 Minutes)

Ah, reading! I love reading!! I have found that, as my healing journey continues, I seem to be devoting more and more of my time to reading factual books about healing. Consequently, less and less of my time is devoted to reading fiction. I feel the balance between work and play is important in life so time needs to be made for enjoyment and relaxation. Reading fiction answers this call for me. Moreover, a gentle story sets me up well to drift off into the land of nod so I have added 15 minutes of reading fiction to my plan.

Finishing Touches

Once I’d worked out what I wanted to include in my bedtime routine, I then had to figure out how long to allocated to each item (see above). I didn’t want to spend more than an hour on my routine so I allocated that hour according to how long I felt each activity would realistically take. I might have to adjust as time goes on.

Then, the last thing to do was decide the order of the activities. I decided I would start in my bathroom as this was the furthest from my bed. That meant doing my ‘cleanse, tone and moisturise face’ and ‘brush and floss teeth’ first. I followed those with my yoga stretches in my bedroom, since these needed to be completed before I could get into bed. Then, from the comfort of my bed, I chose to plan my day first. I knew that this activity would wake my brain up a bit and I needed to save some more calming, less engaging activities for after that. I therefore follow my planning with my glass of water, gratitudes and prayer. I complete the routine with reading my fiction book for fifteen minutes and then turn the light off. Job done! Night night, sleep well.

A Couple Of Extra Things

You might have noticed that I have added candlelight to my skincare routine and sound frequencies to my yoga stretches. The reason for the candlelight is due to something I read in the book ‘Sleep by Nick Littlehales’. He discusses the importance of avoiding bright light on the run-up to bedtime. I really recommend that book if you need to improve the quantity and/or quality of your sleep!

The reason for the sound frequencies is a little less delineated in my mind. I have been hearing great things about the healing qualities of sound frequencies and so I have started to experiment with solfeggio frequencies. Because of the link diabetes has to past trauma and the solar plexus chakra, I am focussing on the frequency of 417 Hz. At the moment, the only time I play solfeggio frequencies is during these ten minutes that I’m doing my bedtime yoga poses. But it’s a start!

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Natalie Leader

Natalie is a blogger with Type 1 Diabetes. Natalie's special gifts are questioning the status quo and being a rebel. She is using these gifts to question medical 'knowledge' and find a true cure for Type 1 Diabetes.

The content of the HealingT1D website is for educational and information purposes only. It does not contain medical advice. The contents of this website are not intended to substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Please always consult with your doctor, physician, or other qualified healthcare professional before making any adjustments to your routine or healthcare regime. HealingT1D and all associated with it will not be held liable for any risks or issues associated with using or acting upon the information on this site.

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June 14, 2021

Read more about the article Bedtime Routine

Fight-or-Flight Response / Taking Control of My Health

NEWSFLASH!

The Fight-Flight Response Is Connected To Beta Cell Creation And Destruction

The content of the HealingT1D website is for educational and information purposes only. It does not contain medical advice. The contents of this website are not intended to substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Please always consult with your doctor, physician, or other qualified healthcare professional before making any adjustments to your routine or healthcare regime. HealingT1D and all associated with it will not be held liable for any risks or issues associated with using or acting upon the information on this site.

Summary: Recent research confirms a link between the autonomic nervous system (ANS) and pancreatic beta cell function in Type 1 Diabetes (T1D), validating the impact of stress and distress on beta cell destruction and regeneration. Addressing chronic stress and promoting relaxation may potentially aid beta cell regeneration in T1D management.

The Relationship Between The Autonomic Nervous System And The Pancreas

Wow, wow, wow! I have just come across a research article that has blown my mind and I just had to share it with you!

I found an article in the scientific literature that has confirmed a hunch I have about the development (and maintenance) of Type 1 Diabetes. The article is entitled ‘Relationships between the Autonomic Nervous System and the Pancreas including Regulation of Regeneration and Apoptosis: Recent Developments’. It can be found in the journal ‘Pancreas’ (find the article here) . Fun title, eh?! Haha!

First, just a quick glossary for those that need it (like I did about ten minutes ago!!):

Regeneration = creation of new cells

Apoptosis = cell death

What is so amazing for me about this article is that it has confirmed to me for the first time in the scientific literature that there is a link between the fight-or-flight response of the autonomic nervous system and the creation and destruction of insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. MY INTUITION WAS RIGHT!! As I suspected…

Therefore, I am right to believe that sufficient trauma can result in destruction of insulin-producing cells, which would result in the development of T1D. Then, if the body gets stuck in a fight-or-flight response – either it doesn’t process that the trauma has passed OR the trauma is ongoing or chronic – the status of T1D is maintained in the body.

In other words, the body continually tells the pancreatic cells to stayed destroyed and not be regenerated because the autonomic nervous system is saying that there is something dangerous out there that the body needs to be ready for. So now the question becomes… If I find a way to tell the body (and mind and soul) that the threat is over and I am now safe, will the pancreas then regenerate beta cells and thus start producing insulin again?

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Natalie Leader

Natalie is a blogger with Type 1 Diabetes. Natalie's special gifts are questioning the status quo and being a rebel. She is using these gifts to question medical 'knowledge' and find a true cure for Type 1 Diabetes.

The content of the HealingT1D website is for educational and information purposes only. It does not contain medical advice. The contents of this website are not intended to substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Please always consult with your doctor, physician, or other qualified healthcare professional before making any adjustments to your routine or healthcare regime. HealingT1D and all associated with it will not be held liable for any risks or issues associated with using or acting upon the information on this site.

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May 27, 2021

Taking Control of My Health

MORE Spontaneous Remissions from Type 1 Diabetes!

History Is Scattered With Examples Of Healing From Type 1 Diabetes

The content of the HealingT1D website is for educational and information purposes only. It does not contain medical advice. The contents of this website are not intended to substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Please always consult with your doctor, physician, or other qualified healthcare professional before making any adjustments to your routine or healthcare regime. HealingT1D and all associated with it will not be held liable for any risks or issues associated with using or acting upon the information on this site.

Summary: Following my blog post on the spontaneous healing of Type 1 Diabetes by Daniel Darkes, the author has found more examples. These include that of Johan Kotze’s remission, alongside a case study published in an academic journal and a chapter about healing diabetes in a book on spontaneous remissions. Despite gaps in medical documentation, these instances inspire hope and challenge conventional treatment beliefs about healing T1D.

Since writing my blog post on Daniel Darkes, I have witnessed a large amount of you visiting my blog specifically to look at that page. It heartens me to see just how many people believe in the power of healing, particularly for Type 1 Diabetes. Hoping to further fuel this hope and motivation, I have scoured all my sources to come up with a further list of spontaneous remissions from Type 1 Diabetes. It appears that Daniel Darkest is not alone in this feat!

Just to explain… I have omitted any case studies of remission that, for me, could be considered the normal honeymoon phase of Type 1 Diabetes. The honeymoon is a fairly robust phenomenon in the development of T1D, where endogenous insulin production reverts to more normal levels after the initial diagnosis of T1D. This period usually last for a few weeks or months, up to a year. Therefore, I have excluded all cases that went into remission in under a year from diagnosis.

Johan Kotze

I came across information about Johan Kotze from diabetes.co.uk. In September 2017, they published this article. The article has a good amount of information on Johan Kotze’s spontaneous remission and lifestyle at that time. Johan Kotze was 46 when diagnosed with diabetes and was healed three and a half years later.

There were three key points for me in this example. Firstly, like Daniel Darkes, Johan Kotze also treated his diabetes with Lantus and Novorapid. Secondly, again like Daniel Darkes, Johan’s spontaneous remission followed a period of intensive exercise, which included undertaking a Tough Mudder and attending weekly circuit classes. He still exercises for at least an hour a day and has been maintaining that level of exercise for at least three years. Thirdly, also like Daniel Darkes, he follows a low-carbohydrate diet with a lot of fish, vegetables and salad. He mentions eating flaxseed. Daniel Darkes eats a fair amount of nuts.

Spontaneous Complete Remission Of Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus In An Adult

This case study has been published in a peer-reviewed journal so holds some credence. It documents the case of a 32-year-old female diagnosed with T1D. She initially presented with diabetes ketoacidosis (DKA) and an HbA1c of 12.7%. Her GAD65 antibody test was 0.09 nmol/L, which is consistent with the autoimmune reaction of T1D. After an initially consistent basal-bolus regimen (insulins are unspecified) for four months, she was detained in prison. For reasons that are unclear, she was not supplied with insulin whilst in prison. However, she did not develop high blood sugars or DKA. Ten months later, 14 months after diagnosis, she was released from prison and followed up with her doctor. Her HbA1c was 5.6% and her fasting glucose was in the normal range.

Spontaneous Remission: An Annotated Bibliography By Brendan O’Regan And Caryle Hirshberg

This volume is a tome of a book!! This book contains an extensive documentation of spontaneous remissions for all known medical diseases. Chapter 12 focuses on remissions of endocrine diseases, inter alia, and contains four case studies for diabetes mellitus. Now the thing to note here is that diabetes mellitus can refer to both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. This book does not clearly label which type of diabetes each case study had so any conclusions drawn from this volume for Type 1 Diabetes can only be tentative. Furthermore, the case studies show relatively short periods of diabetes (between a few days and maximum two years) so I am not sure that these can be truly classified as complete remissions of Type 1 Diabetes.

I suspect that this list is a mere fraction of the amount of spontaneous healings from T1D. From my interest in spontaneous remissions from cancer, I got the impression that the majority of people who recover are those that no longer rely solely on the Western medical model or indeed do not engage with it at all. Therefore, the likelihood of the healing appearing in a medical journal, written by medical professionals, is pretty low. For those that do present in medical settings, I suspect that doctors will also not be particularly willing to write up these examples because they cannot explain them using the existing medical models. Writing the case studies up therefore undermines the doctors’ very training.

Whether or not we witness numerous examples of healing form Type 1 Diabetes in the literature, the cases of Daniel Darkes and Johan Kotze are, in themselves, sufficient to persuade us that it is possible. And that’s really all I kneed to know to get on with my healing journey!

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Natalie Leader

Natalie is a blogger with Type 1 Diabetes. Natalie's special gifts are questioning the status quo and being a rebel. She is using these gifts to question medical 'knowledge' and find a true cure for Type 1 Diabetes.

The content of the HealingT1D website is for educational and information purposes only. It does not contain medical advice. The contents of this website are not intended to substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Please always consult with your doctor, physician, or other qualified healthcare professional before making any adjustments to your routine or healthcare regime. HealingT1D and all associated with it will not be held liable for any risks or issues associated with using or acting upon the information on this site.

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May 10, 2021

Read more about the article MORE Spontaneous Remissions from Type 1 Diabetes!

Diet / Emotional Wellbeing / Physical Wellbeing / Taking Control of My Health

Dairy Causes Mental Health Issues

Food Choices Can Impact All Levels Of Health

The content of the HealingT1D website is for educational and information purposes only. It does not contain medical advice. The contents of this website are not intended to substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Please always consult with your doctor, physician, or other qualified healthcare professional before making any adjustments to your routine or healthcare regime. HealingT1D and all associated with it will not be held liable for any risks or issues associated with using or acting upon the information on this site.

Summary: Discovering a dairy intolerance at the age of 41 reshaped my understanding of its effects beyond digestion. After moving to the Middle East, reducing my dairy intake lowered my mood swings and energy dips, thus revealing a surprising link between dairy and emotional stability. Exploring casein’s role, I ponder its broader implications, including its possible influence on Type 1 Diabetes. Camel’s milk emerges as an alternative with unique benefits but watch for initial blood sugar spikes and potential weight gain.

I LOVE chocolate. And a nice french brie. And milk on my cereal. And… Well, dairy!!

However, the last couple of months have been a great learning curve for me. At 41 years of age, I have FINALLY discovered that I’m dairy intolerant! It would have been nice to discover I’m a secret millionaire but I guess I’ll have to settle for this insight instead!!

Unlike the majority of people who have issues with dairy, I have little to no digestive problems. I have no bloating, no diarrhoea, no nausea, no stomach cramps or pains. In fact, my digestive tract always appears to be sincerely contented. What was not contented, though, was my mood…

Dairy Impacts Mood Stability

Dairy affects my mood?! I never knew this!! When I moved to the Middle East six months ago, the amount of dairy in my diet dropped considerably. I just didn’t find it so readily available out here. I didn’t really notice how little of it I was eating until I moved into our new home and started reverting to my old way of eating. And, boy, did I get angry… And moody… And crabby… And exhausted… And tearful… And snarky… And, frankly, depressed.

But was this really a thing?? Having family members with debilitating IBS, which was always worse with dairy consumption, I thought I knew all there was to know about reactions to dairy. But it turns out that I didn’t know! So I did what all people lacking knowledge do… I hit Google!! And here is what I discovered…

Dairy’s Impacts On The Brain

The first thing I tripped across in my Google search was an article in the New York Post entitled “Your cheese addiction could be making you an emotional wreck“. It referenced a nutritional therapist Kay Ali, who stated that the protein ‘casein’, which is found in dairy, is associated with increased inflammation in the brain. This inflammation can then lead to depression.

I found this insight really interesting. The article did not reference any academic literature so I took to the academic journals to find out more. Unfortunately, I could not find anything to support this conclusion. Instead, I found an article suggesting that milk casein can improve stress in a mouse model of human behaviour. So the jury’s out on the association between dairy, inflammation and depression at the moment.

Whilst unsupported, this article did give me food for thought (pun intended!). My experience of mood swings as a result of eating dairy foodstuffs is not isolated. Anecdotal evidence of this link abounds with bloggers like ‘Danny + Mara‘ and Heather McGlees from ‘One Green Planet’ also highlighting the same issue.

I thought I had been suffering from unexplainable anxiety and depression for years. I would be feeling that I was making progress, feeling better and more optimistic about myself and life, then my mood would inexplicably crash down around my ankles again. It was hard, hard work. I attended therapy for years and worked on myself, both inside and outside the therapy room, for a long time. But this unpredictable oscillation in mood never abated and I ended up concluding that it must just be some randomness in me that I just needed to learn to live with. That is not the case for me anymore. I have done my therapeutic work and I have untied the knots in my psyche. Now that I have this final piece of the puzzle, I no longer consider myself to have mental health issues. I can now say (and truly believe myself when I say it!!) that I am ‘mentally healthy’ (even though I hate labels!!).

A1 Beta-Casein And Type 1 Diabetes

The nutritional therapist Kay Ali (referenced above) specifically mentioned that it is the protein ‘casein’ that is associated with increased inflammation, and therefore depression, in the brain. This is worth repeating for emphasis because I think it holds something highly valuable for me on my healing journey.

I first learnt about casein when I became pregnant with my daughter in 2013. At that time, I researched factors that may affect the potential development of Type 1 Diabetes in children. Type 1 Diabetes has a strong genetic inheritance in the female side of my family so I wanted to do what I could to prevent and/or delay any onset in my daughter. I found a series of articles that highlighted how the protein A1 beta-casein, found in cow’s milk, can be a triggering factor for T1D in individuals with genetic susceptibilities [see this article and this article as examples]. Therefore, for the first six months of my daughter’s life, I gave her no dairy, neither through my breast milk nor through top-up feeds of formula milk (I found a dairy-free version to give her instead).

Encountering casein in a different yet still T1D-relevant context now leaves me wondering about a potential, more general link between dairy intolerance (A1 beta-casein intolerance…?) and T1D. Is my body telling me to lay off the dairy because of a body-wide intolerance to it…? As of now, I just don’t know the answer to this. But I do know that dairy does not suit me, so the avoidance of it in my diet makes sense to me anyway.

BONUS: Camel Milk!

So what if you are thinking of giving up cow’s milk but you really, really like a cup of tea or coffee with milk? Or if you can’t do without that bowl of cereal and milk in the morning? I have an answer for you… Camel’s milk!

Camel milk lacks the beta-casein that cow’s milk contains. So this is a great substitute for avoiding the whole beta-casein issue. But, the superpowers of camel’s milk seem to also go beyond this…

Agrawal and colleagues have undertaken extensive research on the impact of camel’s milk on glycaemic control for patients with Type 1 Diabetes. They have found that camel’s milk is safe and can be used to improve long-term glycaemic control, as evidenced by improved HbA1c’s and reduced doses of insulin (see here, here, and here!). It appears that this may be attributable to the fact that camel’s milk contains protein that have a structure similar to insulin molecules and this similarity may be responsible for the significant impacts on blood sugar levels. Furthermore, for new Type 1 Diabetics, consumption of camel’s milk seemed to aid the maintenance of residual beta-cell function.

What I found particularly interesting was, in this study, it was found that C-peptide levels (used by doctors as an indication of type 1 diabetes – a low level indicates a Type 1 Diabetes diagnosis) were markedly higher in subjects who regularly consumed camel’s milk. In fact, those T1Ds that consumed camel milk had, by the end of 16 weeks, C-peptide levels that were equivalent to non-diabetics!!

And all this was achieved purely by drinking 500 ml of camel’s milk per day. Not bad, eh?!

Words Of Warning…

With such beneficial effects appearing achievable with camel’s milk, I thought I would give it a go. I have to say that, for the first few days, my blood sugars SOARED with the addition of camel’s milk in my diet. Whilst it may have good long-term consequences for diabetes management, in the short-term, it has been playing havoc with my blood sugar control. This has meant I have had to increase my insulin doses. I hope, as time goes on, I will start to witness the build-up of beneficial effects but these early days have no been without consequences! The studies appeared to be undertaken over periods of three months or longer so I wonder if this may be more of a long-term effect.

Furthermore, I noticed that a large number of these studies on camel’s milk showed a statistically significant increase in the Body Mass Index (BMI) of the study participants. Therefore, the extra calories consumed with the camel’s milk appear to cause weight gain. This has left me with two thoughts. Firstly, this is obviously not ideal when I want to decrease my insulin requirements since excess weight increases insulin resistance and therefore is unlikely to regress complete healing.

Secondly, these studies, whilst demonstrating weight gain in the participants, still showed a marked decrease in total insulin intake. Therefore, even with additional weight gain, camel’s milk (assuming all other variables, such as the Hawthorne Effect, were adequately controlled for) drastically improves insulin sensitivity. That suggests to me that it has a very robust and extremely powerful effect on blood sugars. Therefore, I am starting with smaller quantities of camel’s milk and will be working up to consuming the full 500 ml per day.

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Natalie Leader

Natalie is a blogger with Type 1 Diabetes. Natalie's special gifts are questioning the status quo and being a rebel. She is using these gifts to question medical 'knowledge' and find a true cure for Type 1 Diabetes.

The content of the HealingT1D website is for educational and information purposes only. It does not contain medical advice. The contents of this website are not intended to substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Please always consult with your doctor, physician, or other qualified healthcare professional before making any adjustments to your routine or healthcare regime. HealingT1D and all associated with it will not be held liable for any risks or issues associated with using or acting upon the information on this site.

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April 26, 2021

Read more about the article Dairy Causes Mental Health Issues

Taking Control of My Health

How Did You Develop Diabetes?

Sharing Knowledge Helps Everyone Heal

The content of the HealingT1D website is for educational and information purposes only. It does not contain medical advice. The contents of this website are not intended to substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Please always consult with your doctor, physician, or other qualified healthcare professional before making any adjustments to your routine or healthcare regime. HealingT1D and all associated with it will not be held liable for any risks or issues associated with using or acting upon the information on this site.

Summary: Seeking to uncover shared insights among those with diabetes, I invite stories on diabetes origins and emotional climates at diagnosis. Reflecting on my own childhood and familial dynamics, I explore possible emotional triggers. Join me in building a collective understanding of this condition’s roots and potential pathways to healing. Share your story below.

I truly believe that, as a community of diabetics, we have the collective knowledge to be able to heal this condition. I believe we already have the answer, if only we truly look at what we already know.

With that thought in mind, I would really like to start collating the stories of diabetes. How did you develop it? What does your intuition say caused it? As I’ve been reading more and more on the human body and the impact of consciousness, I would also really like to know about the emotional climate that you were in at the time it happened. What were you feeling? Which emotions were floating around your environment at the time? What is your story?

If you feel able to share, please do so below in the comments. I will then watch out for themes and see if I can gather more clues on the pattern or patterns that push diabetes into existence in each of us.

I’ll go first…

I was diagnosed with diabetes at 17 months of age. I had been a healthy baby with generally robust health prior to my diagnosis. I was born into a family with an older brother and my two parents, who were married and provided a stable family environment. My father had a stable job with fairly long hours but was a present and loving father. My mother also worked part-time as a secretary from home and had to return to that job two weeks after I was born. I know that my mother found it difficult to juggle my older brother, myself and her work. By the time I was one year old, she was struggling greatly and therefore couldn’t be present as a mother as much as she wanted to. I suspect that, as such a young child, I would have felt abandoned and angry and feeling a great loss at the relative absences of my hard-working mother and father. I did not suffer any huge traumas at that time. However, I do know that my mother had suffered a huge loss when she was 17 months of age, which I believe was never fully processed. As such, I am also wondering about the impact of multigenerational traumas in this process too.

I’d love to hear your stories! What elements do we all share? If you can, please leave your story below in the comments and let’s build the answer together…

GET HEALINGT1D’S FUTURE ARTICLES IN YOUR INBOX!

Get the latest musings and findings straight to your email inbox.

Natalie Leader

Natalie is a blogger with Type 1 Diabetes. Natalie's special gifts are questioning the status quo and being a rebel. She is using these gifts to question medical 'knowledge' and find a true cure for Type 1 Diabetes.

The content of the HealingT1D website is for educational and information purposes only. It does not contain medical advice. The contents of this website are not intended to substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Please always consult with your doctor, physician, or other qualified healthcare professional before making any adjustments to your routine or healthcare regime. HealingT1D and all associated with it will not be held liable for any risks or issues associated with using or acting upon the information on this site.

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April 12, 2021