UGH! Words from a nurse who works in the hospital
 

My mom's best friend works in the CCU at an area hospital as an RN. She was talking to my mother today (she doesn't know I'm doing Atkins) telling her how she keeps seeing people come in with Pancrease problems from doing all these Low Carb - Atkins diets.
Anyone have any opinions on this one?
Alli

No, but it sounds interesting as the pancreas gland makes insulin. Would really be interested in some opinions!

If people were becoming that ill on a diet, people would not be on it! Check out the health forums and see how people have improved their health by being on this woe. I have been on this diet for over a year.

Before I began this diet, I had a problem with my pancreas because my cells were becoming insulin resistant. Therefore, my pancreas was working overtime to produce enough insulin to "push" glucose into my cells. This push would cause my sugar to drop and I would become shakey, drowsy and insatiably hungry. I put on 40 lbs. After I began doing the Atkins diet all of my hypoglycemic symptoms ceased. My inuslin is balanced and my pancreas is now able to produce healthy glucagon. I eat balanced meals without overeating. My HDL = 77, LDL = 55, triglycerides + 59 and glucose is 98. Oh yeah, I lost 26 lbs.

I am not a nurse but there is a nurse or two that are regulars on these boards that can give you more info than me.

I could easily challenge this nurses remarks about this diet.

I have type 2 diabetes. I've beed doing atkins since I found out about my diabetes diagnoses in july 2003. I have high blood sugar.so what I know is for me the diet I was eating prior to atkins. Which was a high carb diet put my pancreas into a insulin overload.I may of been insulin resistant before the diabetes but didn't catch it in time.I control my diabetes by doing atkins.I take no medication at all.I know for me that I will have to do this for life.My doctor knows I'm doing atkins, and is totally ok with it.She says keep doing what I'm doing.So maybe those nurses need to do alittle reasearch on low carbing.

telling her how she keeps seeing people come in with Pancrease problems from doing all these Low Carb - Atkins diets. !!!

if this where true then every naysayer and his sheep would be bleeting about it.

Lez

Is it possible that the 'atkins' people she is refering to is one of the many people we see come to the boards daily that have tried to stay at 0 carbs and eating no vegetables thinking that they are doing atkins when they really don't have a clue because they never took the time to read the book? I have met a lot of people that say they are doing atkins and I know they think they are but in reality they are not.

Jenn

I would have to agree with Elsah. I know a number of people who claim to be following the Atkins diet, however have no idea about what this really entails. Those who only follow Atkins based on media and the Atkins line in the grocery store may be having the problems.

pancreatitis
 

http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddis...titis/index.htm

This link describes pancreatitis symptoms and causes.

Does Atkins cause gall stones? Probably not. THe gallbladder is
built to squirt out bile to break down fat-stones are caused by
bile building up in gallbladder.

Alcoholism-are Atkins dieters more likely to indulge-a personal
choice-some cut back on alcohol to keep a "clean diet"

Do we have high fat levels in our blood-Probably-but what
percentage of all patients do? and what amount of dieters ever
develop symptoms?

Maybe we should ask Ashcroft to investigate
he is recovering from gallbladder surgery.

Hmm... I've worked as an RN in CCU for 3 years now, and I have NEVER seen anyone come in with pancreatitis related to low-carbing. I have seen it related to either diabetes with uncontrolled (high) blood sugar or alcoholism. In fact, I've been a nurse for 8 years in a variety of settings and I've never seen any patient come in with health problems related to a low-carb diet. I have seen plenty of people who lost a lot of weight though, LOL!

Jen

Allibaba...

I am a nurse and I work in ICU/CCU.

First of all Pancreatitis patients don't go to the Cardiac Care Unit, how the heck is she seeing them? Sticking her head in the rooms of patients she isn't caring for?

Low carb diets do not cause pancreas problems.

Your Mom's friend is full of crap.

Look, I'm in medicine and I work with people in medicine. I can't count how many times someone in medicine has used their profession to prove a point when they don't have facts to back them up. Think about how many people are anti-Atkins. There are a slew of them. When someone doesn't have the facts and doesn't really understand the physiology of how the program works they are going by the old fashioned food CRAP. You know, the food pyramid that encourages lots of carbs.

I'm telling you, she's using her profession to make a point because she has no facts to use instead.

Where I work our critical care unit is called "CCU" we take care of any type of critical care patient which could include pancreatitis. However, I have never seen a patient that has had health problems related to a low carb diet. Even if a patient says that they were on low carb, how would you know that it was the cause of the health problems? To link pancreatitis to low carb eating, your Mom's friend would have to know exactly what they were eating, how long they were on the diet, any pre-existing conditions etc... I doubt that she has enough information to link Atkins to their medical condition.

I'm not a medical professional by any means, and I would never try to tell someone that this way of eating is the only way for them. All I know is it's the only way for me. I'm a Type II Diabetic, on medication, and I take my blood sugars 2 - 4 times a day. And I can tell you, when I eat carbs it shows in my blood sugar. For years I just ignored it, and went on Weight Watchers annually. I was hungry and crabby and lost weight very slowly, and my blood sugar was high.

A couple of weeks I go I went to my doctor (who's known me for 16 years) and said, "Look, my blood sugar is too high, my blood pressure is too high, and my weight is too high. I'm middle-aged, female, and don't want to spend the last half of my life with alot of complications. How do I get the weight off and get healthy?"

He gave me a stern talking to, and said, "40 grams of carbs a day, no more. And 2 or 3 cheat days a month. And go back to the gym and your personal trainer."

So I did. 10 days later I'm down 16 pounds and all of my numbers are better.

Perhaps persecution and ignoring the Bill of Rights (Ashcroft) is actually more of a threat to your pancreas...;)

Zimms...

True, I didn't think about that. I forget that not all hospitals use the same abbreviations.

We have a CCU, ICU, and InCU (intermediate care unit).

However, I've yet to see a patient in there for pancreatitis from low carb diets.

One issue that I have seen and it was with my own Dad is diverticulosis. He has been doing Atkins for a year and lost 80 pounds. I have been harping and nagging for him to increase his fiber but of couse, he's an engineer so he knows everything. He refused to listen to me. First he developed diverticulosis and then diverticulitis and then he ended up with a bowel obstruction. In December he was in the hospital for emergency surgery.

The upside to this is that they went ahead and sent a bx to pathology even though they saw nothing to indicate anything but the infection and on xmas day he was told he has colon cancer. It is in the very earliest stages so he is getting 5FU just in case but I'm sure he's going to do well.

In a way it is a good thing he ignored me, he might not have known about the colon CA until it was too late.

However, my point is that fiber is necessary too. For a couple of weeks it certainly isn't a big deal. Eight months with little to no fiber is a problem.

But pancreatitis? Bah!

Adkpam...

Hear hear! I could not possibly agree with you more!