“The low blood sugar of today is the diabetes of tomorrow.”
– Dr. Seale Harris

News for Immediate Release

April 15, 2019

Today, April 15, 2019, the Hypoglycemia Support Foundation (HSF) unveils its new website at https://hypoglycemia.org. Why should you care, just another website, right?

In every minute taken to read this news, someone is dying from preventable diet-related disease.

More people have died from preventable metabolic disease since 1980 than the sum of all the world’s military conflicts combined. This is more than a burgeoning health issue – it is a national security issue with profound economic implications.

Another relevant fact: back in 1980, the HSF was founded by a patient advocate named Roberta Ruggiero. Today, if you live in South Florida, you might run into Roberta at the supermarket, beauty salon or local bookstore – she would just seem like a nice lady, an ordinary citizen, going about her daily business – but she is more than that – she is modern day superhero.

Forty years ago, after suffering years of being misdiagnosed for a mysterious set of ailments profoundly affecting her physical and mental health, Roberta was subjected to a travesty of medical abuse – receiving multiple “treatments” of electroshock therapy…for a condition that would later, finally, be recognized as hypoglycemia. 

Many of us would have been permanently wounded by such an experience, but Roberta responded by writing a book, The Do’s and Don’ts of Hypoglycemia, and founded a nonprofit, the Hypoglycemia Support Foundation, and then kept it going for four decades – reaching millions with vital health information and changing countless lives. “I couldn’t let what happened to me, continue to happen to others – so I took action. I had no idea the epidemic of blood sugar disorders would grow to the proportions it has today,” Roberta said.

Imagine if you had advance notice, years ahead of getting type 2 diabetes, non alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), or worse yet, a heart attack or stroke? Hypoglycemia, also known as low blood sugar, is one of the earliest and most often experienced indicators of metabolic dysfunction by the general population. For decades, the HSF has been filling a critical gap in educating the public about a health issue that is a significant precursor to more advanced metabolic diseases.

What if you have received the “gift” of hypoglycemia? Wait, what? Hypoglycemia: a gift? Yes. Gift. Because, long before you get type 2 diabetes or heart disease, low blood sugar, also called hypoglycemia, sends you insistent warnings, like a “canary in a coal mine,” while you still have time to spare yourself. The gift messages take many forms: anxiety, depression, physical and mental fatigue, brain fog and cravings – all with the same greeting: ‘Change while there’s still time.’ Assuming you listen and act, it could save you a lifetime of unnecessary suffering.

The new www.hypoglycemia.org website was made possible with support from Connie Bennett, bestselling author of Sugar Shock and Beyond Sugar Shock and the upcoming book, I blew my diet! Now what?

“When I first talked to Roberta more than a decade ago, I was a huge sugar addict, carb junkie, night owl and overworked journalist with 44 baffling ailments. With help from Roberta Ruggiero and the Hypoglycemia Support Foundation, I kicked my sugar addiction, stabilized my blood sugar and got a new lease on life.

“I never would have learned about low blood sugar and why it’s so important to kick processed carbs and sweets if it weren’t for the eye-opening information and tremendous patience of the amazing Roberta Ruggiero,” Bennett says. “Then, a few years ago, Roberta came to my rescue again when I had months-long carb relapse after losing my dying Mom.

“Roberta is such a selfless, altruistic woman, and she and the Hypoglycemia Support Foundation have educated millions and saved countless lives.”

“I’ll forever be grateful,” continues Bennett.

Connie is one of tens of thousands who have found the HSF after years of unnecessary suffering. So, no, this isn’t just another website; the urgency of this work has never been greater.

The new HSF website offers a wide range of useful information for sufferers of a medical condition that is now affecting a majority of the global population. While there are many types of hypoglycemia, the most common form, and typically misunderstood and undiagnosed, is reactive hypoglycemia… a condition that is preventable and reversible for most. While simple diet and lifestyle changes are often extremely effective, this can be very hard, especially when we live in a food environment that barrages us daily with processed foods laden with sugar and junk carbohydrates, constantly tipping us in the wrong direction. So, the HSF continues its exceptional journey of education and support, offering an extensive new range of resources and articles on its website, including the world’s first comprehensive infographic on hypoglycemia. Complementing its website are a public Facebook page and private Facebook Support group.

“We expect this new website to change many more lives –  I have suffered for many years on the “blood sugar roller coaster” and know how frustrating it can be to lack vital information about one’s health. Serving as the first CEO for the HSF is exciting because it allows me to “swim upstream” and reach millions of people before they sink into chronic and debilitating metabolic disorders – simply by helping them recognize early signs that our blood sugar gives us,” states Wolfram Alderson.

For further information, please contact:

Wolfram Alderson, CEO
Hypoglycemia Support Foundation
[email protected]

In every minute taken to read this blog post, someone is dying from preventable diet-related disease.

More people have died from metabolic disease since 1980 than the [i]sum of all the world’s military conflicts combined. This is more than a burgeoning health issue – it is a [ii]national security issue with profound economic implications. The HSF seeks funding, support and partnership to develop much needed educational content and programs for medical professionals and their patients that focuses on metabolic health and nutrition – preventing, treating, and resolving diet-related issues. The urgency of this work has never been greater.

The HSF is a 39-year old nonprofit organization, founded by a patient advocate, dedicated to forging a healthier world empowered by science-based nutrition and the prevention, early detection, and management of metabolic disease. Hypoglycemia, also known as low blood sugar, is one of the earliest and most frequently experienced indicators of metabolic dysfunction by the general population. For decades, the HSF has been filling a critical gap in educating the public about a health issue recognized as a “canary in the coal mine” of metabolic disease. The HSF has forged a compelling new strategic vision and is poised to expand its impact at a critical moment in U.S. public health history.

Dr. Seale Harris, the [iii]pioneer researcher of hyperinsulinism, viewed hypoglycemia as a harbinger of more complex metabolic disease as early as 1924: “The low blood sugar of today is the diabetes of tomorrow.” Today, low blood sugar is an issue that affects the majority of the population in some form or another, and is a key indicator that metabolic dysfunction is at play. Patients, adequately informed by their doctors, can take action to address diet and lifestyle factors that are driving the condition before more advanced diet-related disorders progress. Unfortunately, many doctors are poorly prepared to diagnose and treat the condition within the context of metabolic (systemic) dysfunction.

In 1958, the year after Dr. Seale died, slightly more than 1.5 million people were diagnosed with diabetes each year. In 2015, the [iv]rate had increased to over 23 million per year. Since 1980, [v]rates of type 2 diabetes have quadrupled. [vi]More than half of Americans are now either pre-diabetic or diabetic. [vii]Nearly half of adult Americans are obese, a rate that has nearly doubled since 1980, while [viii]childhood obesity and diabetes diagnoses have tripled. [ix]One in two adults in the U.S. has a chronic disease. [x]One out three children born in 2000 will have diabetes.

Chronic disease rates have escalated, and now exceed communicable disease. While 80% of the obese population suffer from metabolic disease, it is important to know that 40% of the non-obese also suffer from metabolic disorders. Conditions such as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) are not easy to detect and are [xi]increasing at alarming rates in adults and children. Metabolic disease erodes our health care system both directly (hypoglycemia, type 2 diabetes, NAFLD) and indirectly (heart attacks, strokes, cancer, dementia), while prevention programs are lacking funding and support.  

National [xii]health care expenditures are currently $3.2 trillion – 75% of this results from chronic disease, and 75% of this is preventable and diet-related. An estimated $1.8 trillion is being wasted. One study showed that a 10% reduction in mortality from heart disease would have a value of $5.5 trillion to current and future generations, while a 10% reduction in mortality from cancer would be worth $4.4 trillion. [xiii]Research suggests that a modest reduction in avoidable risk factors could lead to a gain of more than $1 trillion annually in labor supply and efficiency by 2023.

Wellness programs generally report high returns of investment (ROI), and preventive and early intervention measures targeted to those already identified to be at risk, result in significant ROIs. [xiv]Data show that public health interventions generate anywhere from four to twenty-seven dollars for every dollar invested. The good news is that we are resilient, and [xv]research shows that simple interventions, such as reducing consumption of added sugar within limits recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), can result in dramatic improvements in child metabolic health, including a 22% reduction in liver fat, in as little as 10 days.

Defying the statistics on diet-related disease, and the ROI of preventive measures, less than 30% of medical schools require courses in nutrition, despite repeated calls from the U.S. government and medical authorities to do so. Research shows that most primary care doctors are unprepared to diagnose and advise patients with diet-related disorders, lacking the time, training, and tools to help patients, and, by default, focusing on management of disease versus actually addressing the root causes of metabolic dysfunction. Doctors have little confidence that patients can make the necessary lifestyle changes, and rely on drugs like Metformin and procedures like gastric bypass surgery.

One of the leading ways to provide training to doctors and health care professionals is a system called Continuing Medical Education (CME). CME education is supported by the national Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education, and consists of educational activities designed to maintain, develop, or increase the knowledge, skills, and professional performance and relationships that a physician uses to provide services for patients, the public, or the profession. CME content is widely respected and validated by respected institutions such as the American Medical Association, and provides a body of knowledge and skills recognized and accepted by medical professionals. CME keeps health care providers up to date with the most current knowledge needed to help their patients.

In contrast, patient medical education is unregulated, and health literacy among the patient population is hobbled by a lack of quality education, and inconsistent information that lacks standards aligned with current evidence-based medicine. Information about diet-related disorders is particularly inadequate, and many doctors prefer to avoid providing education about nutrition and diet and focus on treating patients with drugs or devices. Prevention of diet-related disease has little support within the mainstream health care system, and the protocols for sustaining optimal metabolic health and nutrition are woefully lacking.  While dietary interventions have been developed that can reverse type 2 diabetes and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease – few doctors are aware of the most current science.

HSF leadership have been involved in the development of the nation’s first Metabolic Health and Nutrition CME summits at Swedish Hospital in Seattle. The second summit is took place June 15-16, 2018.  The first summit focused on [xvi]Pediatric Metabolic Health & Nutrition and the second summit expands the focus to Metabolic Health & Nutrition for the Whole Life Span. HSF would like to foster the development of similar CME summits at other leading health care institutions in the U.S.

The HSF would also like to offer smaller CME programs focusing on specific sets of topics featured at the comprehensive metabolic health and nutrition summits. The development of these CME modules will build on the impressive network of contacts in the field that leadership of the HSF has assembled over decades of work. There is a distinguished and very impactful group of leaders in the metabolic health and nutrition field – but there is a lack of awareness about their work. HSF will tap their considerable expertise and knowledge (critical to developing high quality CME content featuring the most current research and practice) and bring their work to national audiences.

In conjunction with the development of the CME programs, HSF also proposes to develop Patient Medical Education (PME) programs that translate the content developed for professional health care providers into education that is relevant and applicable to the patient population acutely affected by metabolic health disorders. It is not unusual for patients visiting diabetes clinics to be handed one-size-fits-all diet guidelines like the “Food Pyramid” or “My Plate.” These diet plans, high in carbohydrates, are typically not what the patients need, but Registered Dietitians feel compelled to follow Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND) guidelines that are woefully out of date. Drugs like Metformin (Glucophage) are routinely prescribed, designed to managed disease, not eliminate the causes of it.

If any of this sounds like something you might want to get involved with, please contact Wolfram Alderson, CEO, Hypoglycemia Support Foundation by email.

FOOTNOTES

[i] U.S. deaths since 1980 caused by: terrorism = < 4,000; warfare = <9,000; gun violence = <1,500,000; diet-related diseases = >45,000,000.

[ii] The Impact of Obesity on National and Homeland Security

[iii] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seale_Harris

[iv] https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/statistics/slides/long_term_trends.pdf

[v] Type 2 Diabetes Rates Quadruple Worldwide Since 1980.

[vi] Prevalence of and Trends in Diabetes Among Adults in the United States, 1988-2012

[vii] Prevalence of Overweight, Obesity, and Extreme Obesity Among Adults Aged 20 and Over: United States, 1960–1962 Through 2013–2014

[viii] Childhood Obesity Facts

[ix] As of 2012, about half of all adults—117 million people—had one or more chronic health conditions

[x] One in Three US Children Born in 2000 Will Develop Diabetes

[xi] Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: A comprehensive review of a growing epidemic

[xii] National Health Expenditure Data, Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services

[xiii] An Unhealthy America: The Economic Burden of Chronic Disease — Charting a New Course to Save Lives and Increase Productivity and Economic Growth

[xiv] Return on investment of public health interventions: a systematic review.

[xv] Isocaloric fructose restriction and metabolic improvement in children with obesity and metabolic syndrome

[xvi] Pediatric Metabolic Health and Nutrition Summit, Swedish Hospital, Seattle.

“The low blood sugar of today is the diabetes of tomorrow.” -Dr. Seale Harris

It is rare that I have a conversation about hypoglycemia that the subject of diabetes doesn’t come up. The thousands of letters and e-mails I’ve received over the past 38 plus years confirm that this is a major concern. One such email message gives you an indication of what I mean. “Darren,” a full-time college student at Tulane University in New Orleans writes, “I feel like I’m going to die from this thing that grossly interferes with my life…I want to know everything…I don’t understand much. Should I just eat everything when I have an attack? Tell me what to eat when I’m freaking…I also want to know how this affects my metabolism? How does it differ from diabetes? Is it the predecessor? What are the long-term effects? Can this kill me? Because sometimes I want to die or just be able to stick insulin needle in my arm and feel better. Perhaps it is because I am uneducated on the issues, but it seems to me that diabetics have it easier. They can just “get a fix” so to speak. I don’t really like needles but I could get used to them if it would make me feel better, feel normal.”

Another e-mail arrived shortly after the one from Darren.” “I was just diagnosed with hypoglycemia. Can you explain in plain language that I can understand how hypoglycemia is prediabetic? Please tell me this isn’t true and if so how could I become diabetic?”

It was difficult to respond to these two emails. What do you say to someone who sounds so desperate and helpless? Is information enough? In both these cases however, information is the ONLY answer. When fear and panic set in because of the unknown, every physical symptom becomes magnified. If only they read Lick The Sugar Habit by Dr. Nancy Appleton, Sugar Shock by Connie Bennett, Hypoglycemia: The Other Sugar Disease by Anita Flegg, or Hypoglycemia for Dummies by Cheryl Chow and Dr. James Chow. Each of these books would have answered all the above questions!

It saddens me that this information isn’t readily available through the medical community. Maybe it is because hypoglycemia and diabetes are often separated as health conditions—one is accepted while one is virtually ignored. Hypoglycemia is often only spoken of in the context of insulin and blood sugar level management for people with diabetes. Just scan your local newspaper and magazines. Diabetes (high blood sugar) definitely takes center stage in medical headlines. According to the American  Diabetes Association, “In 2015, 30.3 million Americans, or 9.4% of the population, had diabetes. Of the 30.3 million adults with diabetes, 23.1 million were diagnosed, and 7.2 million were undiagnosed.”

Type 2 diabetes, like obesity, is at epidemic proportions in the United States and throughout the world. Twenty-five million Americans have diabetes, with 800,000 new cases each year. Is it any wonder why this disease is the seventh leading cause of death? Diabetes increases the risk of heart disease, gangrene and limb amputation, kidney failure, and blindness. A leading killer, it also decreases your life expectancy.

The saddest part is that 50 percent of those affected may not be aware that they have this deadly disease. Hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), an important sign that you may be at risk for type 2 diabetes, is typically ignored and treated symptomatically. There may be an article here, a book there, but seldom do you see informative statistics. Too bad, for maybe if we had better numbers, more Americans would stand up and take notice of blood sugar issues. One book I read estimates that 100 million Americans are experiencing hypoglycemia.

Unfortunately, there are few formalized studies on hypoglycemia as a stand-alone condition. Therefore, it is very difficult to substantiate these numbers. Often, the only research to be found on hypoglycemia is within the context of studies on related medical conditions. Because of this, however, we may never know how many Americans are suffering, needlessly, from hypoglycemia. We need to study and document that there is a connection between low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) and high blood sugar (diabetes) – the blood sugar roller coaster described in our infographic. Or do we just need to read more of the e-mails that the HSF receives?

“I was just diagnosed with borderline hypoglycemia. My doctor told me not to worry and handed me a single sheet of paper with some diet instructions. Since he didn’t seem concerned, I left with the feeling like my condition was ‘no big deal.’ I kept eating all my chocolate chip cookies and gave in to all my cravings. I am now dealing with the consequences. I feel terrible. My symptoms are worse and I was just diagnosed (2002) with diabetes. Both my mother and grandmother had diabetes. Why didn’t I take this more seriously? What can I do now?”

“I desperately need to find a doctor that knows how to treat my hypoglycemia. My present one told me all I had to do was carry a candy bar with me. My Dad is severely diabetic and I don’t want to end up with that disease. I live in the Cincinnati, Ohio area. Please help me.” “Can uncontrolled hypoglycemia result in diabetes?”

I asked Dr. Lorna Walker, nutritionist and advisor to the HSF, to answer the last question. This was her response. “Hypoglycemia is a blood management disorder in which the pancreas reacts to a rapid rise in blood glucose levels by secreting too much insulin while in diabetes, when blood sugar gets abnormally high, the damaged pancreas is unable to bring it down by secreting too little. In some cases, this hyperinsulinism is the precursor to adult onset diabetes (type 2 diabetes). The hypothesis is that the overactive pancreas, when predisposed by genetics, diet, and lifestyle, finally begins to wear down and the end result is diabetes.”

Dr. Linda Peterson, who wrote the groundbreaking work, “Brain Neurophysiology in Persons with Reactive Hypoglycemia,” states that “More information is needed regarding the brain neurophysiology of persons with reactive hypoglycemia. Although it is possible to diagnose the condition when several simultaneous blood tests are conducted, few practicing physicians have used any procedure except the inconclusive glucose tolerance test. Because brain changes have not been documented, clinicians vary in their belief about the seriousness of the condition. As a result, treatment modalities for clients depend on the bias of the professional. Sometimes treatment will adequate and at other times miss the needs of the client entirely.”

No letter, e-mail or explanation can be as profound as the simple black-and-white facts. So in 1998, I added a hypoglycemia/diabetes questionnaire to our website. Due to the increase of questions and concerns about a possible connection between hypoglycemia and diabetes, I wanted to find out if this association could be observed. The goal was to determine whether untreated hypoglycemia is a precursor to diabetes. The survey was also designed to gather information on how and by whom hypoglycemia had been diagnosed and what type of treatments, if any, were found to be beneficial. The HSF received over 5500 responses (3752 respondents with hypoglycemia) from 25 countries.

Below is a brief synopsis of what we discovered. Sixty-four percent of those confirmed with hypoglycemia (diagnosed by a physician with a glucose tolerance test) indicated that one or more family members had been diagnosed with diabetes. With this information, we can alert people who experience hypoglycemia to the seriousness of this condition, as diabetes will almost certainly be the next stage if left untreated. It is also critical for people with diabetes to share this information with other family members as a preventative measure. When we asked those surveyed what kind of symptoms they experienced, the most common were:

• Heart Palpitations 80%
• Dizziness 79%
• Mood Swings 77%
• Headaches 74%
• Depression 67%
• Addiction to Sweets 62%
• Extreme Fatigue 52%

When diagnosed with hypoglycemia, only 59% changed their diet. That number is high considering that only 48% of physicians who diagnosed hypoglycemia through a glucose tolerance test recommended treatment. A little more than 50% of the participants incorporated vitamins and exercise, while only 25% changed their mental attitude towards the illness. Unfortunately, 23% considered candy the cure-all for their low blood sugar problems.

Check out the current questionnaire on our website, https://hypoglycemia.org/questionnaire. It will give you an idea of what we are looking for and how this information will help future treatment of these conditions. This questionnaire isn’t the answer of course, as it cannot take the place of well-structured medical research. However, it is actually giving us the answers we need to encourage more scientific research into this condition that is so often not taken seriously. In the meantime, we are working on publishing Dr. Linda Peterson’s work, which was ignored by the medical profession when presented in 1978.

Do you know of significant research on hypoglycemia? If so, please let us know. We are gathering all that we know and will be listing studies about hypoglycemia on this site.

Before the future, let’s look one more time at the present. Diagnosing and managing hypoglycemia is one of the key determining factors in the subsequent development of adult onset type 2 diabetes in later life. Diet, lifestyle, age, predisposition, and insulin and tissue resistance are all variables that need to be addressed concerning this issue. To date, there is nothing we are able to do to counteract the effects of either aging or genetic predisposition. The remaining elements, however, can be managed. If one is successful, there is a good chance that Type 2 diabetes can be prevented or delayed.

Here’s to your health,

Roberta

*Yes, Gift. Why?

“Because long before you get diabetes or heart disease, low blood sugar, also called Hypoglycemia, sends you insistent warnings, like a “canary in the coal mine,” while you still have time to spare yourself. The gift messages take many forms: anxiety, depression, physical and mental fatigue, brain fog and cravings  — all with the same greeting: ‘Change while there’s still time.’ Assuming you listen and act, it could save you a lifetime of unnecessary suffering.”
– Dorothy Mullen, Founder, The Suppers Programs

The food-mood connection is a vital one – listening to what blood sugar is telling you and taking appropriate actions can dramatically improve your metabolic and mental health. Mental health conditions are increasingly being evaluated within the context of metabolic health. Blood sugar dysregulation (high and low), often associated with insulin resistance and hypersecretion, is one of the “canaries in the coal mine” for many metabolic and mental health disorders, and is associated with many medical conditions.

“The low blood sugar of today is the diabetes of tomorrow.” – Dr. Seale Harris

Hypoglycemia is one of the most confusing, complicated, misunderstood, and too often misdiagnosed or undiagnosed conditions of modern medical history. A growing need/emphasis on patient self-advocacy and education is emerging, since, unfortunately, many healthcare professionals are poorly equipped to diagnose the issue, and often lack the training in nutrition science to prescribe a proper dietary response. Nutrition education in medical schools has actually declined in the last three decades. How do you listen to what blood sugar is telling you, and what actions can you take as a patient?

Background

Hypoglycemia is associated with a wide variety of diet-related disorders (metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, fatty liver disease, etc.) and medical conditions (critical illness, drug side effects, organ failure, gastric bypass surgery, etc.). The most common form, functional / reactive hypoglycemia is diet-related and preventable. There are tools available to you that can help pinpoint why and where you might be on a blood sugar roller coaster, and simple solutions involving diet, stress, and lifestyle are accessible and affordable. New and old diagnostic tests and technology can help you pinpoint what the issues might be, and provide helpful data to your healthcare provider.

Resources

Some conventional methods such as keeping a diet/symptom diary and a variety of tests have been in place for decades. Now, new bio-monitoring devices have the potential to empower consumers to optimize their metabolic and mental health – matched with personalized nutrition built on the foundation of real food.

• Hypoglycemia – Blood Sugar Roller Coaster (Comprehensive Infographic)
• Hypoglycemia – Do’s and Don’ts (Book by Patient Advocate, Roberta Ruggiero)
• Sweet Revenge – Turning the Table on Processed Foods (Public Television Program – get a discount code here)
• https://hypoglycemia.org (Informational Website)