Type 2 diabetics must talk to their doctors today about these new medication warnings

Giving and taking away

If you go looking for red flags in the world of Big Pharma, you don’t have to look far. You’ll find an ocean of red flags stretching to the horizon.

But even in that sea of red warnings, there are two red flags that stand out for diabetics.

That is…they SHOULD stand out. Unfortunately, most conventional doctors don’t know how urgent these warnings really are.

Getting the red out

Red Flag One: The simple choice of one drug or another might increase your risk of untimely death.

Doctors treating type 2 usually prescribe metformin. But there’s another widely used class of diabetes drug called sulfonylurea.

In a recent study, patients who took a sulfonylurea were 50% more likely to die than metformin users. That’s shocking! And this was over a period of just TWO years.

That’s red flag one. (And it’s about as red as they get!)

Red Flag Two is for anyone taking metformin, or anyone planning to switch to it. And the warning is urgent.

Alternative medicine insiders have long known about a link between metformin and vitamin B12 deficiency.

I’ve told you this before. B12 is a vitally important nutrient. And that’s especially true for seniors. It protects bones and cognitive health.

B12 also protects nerves and helps prevent peripheral neuropathy. That’s a major problem for diabetics. So you instantly see the issue here. Metformin helps control blood sugar. But it depletes the key vitamin that protects you from nerve damage.

Two years ago, I told you about a B12 breakthrough. Researchers found that neuropathy often precedes anemia caused by low B12.

Most importantly, B12 therapy cures anemia. It also stops the neuropathy from getting worse.

But no treatment can reverse neuropathy damage. Prolonged B12 deficiency kills neuron cells. Once neurons are lost, they’re gone. And this neuronal death also occurs in the spine and brain.

Dr. Spreen recommends a 1,000 mcg sublingual B12 supplement daily. But he adds that B12 needs these other nutrients to be most effective…

* Folate — 1.6 mg daily

* Vitamin B6 — 100 mg daily

* Magnesium — 400 to 500 mg daily

Your best dietary sources of B12 are meat, fish and eggs. So diabetics who are also vegetarians or vegans will be followed around by a red flag, unless they supplement with B12.

Sources:
“Common Diabetes Drugs Associated With Increased Risk of Death” Newswise, 6/24/12, newswise.com