Dr. Bernstein's Diabetes Solution. A Complete Guide to Achieving Normal Blood Sugars. Official Web Site

Don’t Permit Hospitalization or Lengthy Outpatient Procedures to Impair Your Blood Sugar Control

Articles - Dr. Bernstein Shares His Insights

Richard K. Bernstein, M.D., F.A.C.E., F.A.C.N., C.W.S , says, Don't Permit Hospitalization or Lengthy Outpatient Procedures to Impair Your Blood Sugar Control

Diabetes Solution Revised and Updated 2007
Complete Guide to Achieving Normal Blood Sugars
Richard K. Bernstein, M.D., F.A.C.E., F.A.C.N., C.W.S.

A P P E N D I X B

Don't Permit Hospitalization or Lengthy Outpatient Procedures to Impair Your Blood Sugar Control

If ever it is necessary for you to become a hospital patient almost anywhere in the world, the chances are overwhelming that no reasonable thought will be given to controlling your blood sugar. Most of the medical orthodoxy doesn’t do it anywhere else, so why should they do it in the hospital?

The reasons for such neglect, of course, are many: lack of blood sugar control skills on the part of most hospital medical staff; unawareness of the importance of normal or near-normal blood sugars in the face of illness or surgery; and an almost pathological fear of severe hypoglycemia (and the potential for lawsuits in the United States if it occurs). Many if not most hospital dietitians have been indoctrinated by the ADA, with the result that diabetic inpatients are forced to eat high-carbohydrate foods and are deprived of protein and fat. Some of my patients tell stories of having to sneak in their own insulin and blood sugar meter, throw out hospital food, and fight tooth and nail with well-meaning but uninformed hospital personnel.

Many studies of hospitalized patients have demonstrated that elevated blood sugar delays surgical healing, increases risk of postsurgical morbidity and mortality, delays recovery from infections, and leaves patients open to new infection. It also has been shown to increase death rate of patients who have been hospitalized for heart attack or stroke, and increases the likelihood of a new stroke or heart attack.

What can you do to help keep your blood sugars under control while in the hospital?
Most of my patients live great distances from my office, so that I am not the admitting physician or surgeon when they are hospitalized, and I am thus not in a position to write their orders, help control their diets, and directly oversee their medical care.

After sharing the frustration of my patients over the years, I’ve come up with a letter that has worked repeatedly for elective hospitalization, such as for surgeries planned in advance. As you will see, it relies on the prevailing fear of litigation that appropriately permeates the medical care system in the United States. This letter should be sent by you or your diabetologist to the admitting physician, with a copy to the hospital administrator. I’ve composed the letter as if you were writing it, since the odds are that you are not under the care of a diabetologist. It can, of course, be modified to suit your circumstances.

Dear Dr. __________:
I am scheduled for admission to your hospital on __________. I have type [1 or 2] diabetes and am naturally concerned aboutcontrol of my blood sugars while hospitalized.It is now generally accepted that elevated blood sugar levels impede recovery, prolong hospitalization, and increase the incidence of hospital and surgical morbidity and death.Major health problems brought about by inappropriate blood sugar elevations during
hospitalization have justifiably led to litigation. Since I have been successful at keeping my blood sugars essentially normal around the clock, I naturally expect equivalent care while I’m in the hands of medical professionals. I currently take the following medications for controlling my
blood sugars:

[List here doses, times, and purposes of medications: “basal insulin (or ISA) to cover the fasting state—must be given even if not eating,”“prelunch (breakfast, supper) insulin (or ISA), to be skipped if meal is skipped.”Detail also any use of insulin, glucose tablets, or liquid oral glucose for correcting off-target blood sugars, etc.You may also include a sample GLUCOGRAF sheet and request that all medications used by the hospital that may affect blood sugar be listed on it if you are not capable of listing them yourself.]

My hospital orders should call for a “normal diet” and not a “diabetic diet,” so that I can select my own meals.

Routine intravenous fluids should not contain caloric substances such as glucose, fructose, lactose, lactated Ringer’s solution, or saline with added glucose (except for treatment of blood sugars that are below my target). All of these substances will raise my blood sugar to unacceptable levels. Normal saline solution is perfectly adequate for routine hydration.My target blood sugar is ___ mg/dl. If I am conscious and without cognitive impairment, I should have full responsibility for treatment of my diabetes—without outside interference. My blood sugar meter and blood sugar control medications, including insulin syringes, should not be confiscated by hospital personnel. This is a barbaric practice that is rapidly being abandoned in modern hospitals.*

If I am unable to care for my own blood sugars, I expect that the hospital staff will exercise every effort to maintain my blood sugarswithin the range of [00–00].

Sincerely,

cc: [Hospital administrator]
[Close relative or friend]

This letter may also be of value if you are to have certain outpatient procedures, such as endoscopy, cataract surgery, hernia repair, and so on. These are frequently performed in physicians’ offices or in hospitals without the requirement for staying overnight.

* Many hospital pharmacies do not stock the products that we commonly utilize in this book, such as 25–30-unit insulin syringes with .-unit markings, detemir
(Levemir) or glargine (Lantus) insulins, and lispro (Humalog) or aspart (Novolog) insulins.

We would like to thank the publisher Little Brown and Company and Dr. Richard K. Bernstein, for allowing us to provide excerpts from Diabetes Solution 2007 Edition
Copyright © 2007by Richard K. Bernstein, M.D.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.

Author’s Note
This book is not intended as a substitute for professional medical care. The reader should regularly consult a physician for all health-related problems and routine care.

For information on how you can purchase Diabetes Solution, go to www.Diabetes911.net Special for $19.95. Regular $29.95 A savings of 10 dollars

Also available a 5CD-6hour education series by Dr. Richard K. Bernstein:
“The Secrets to Normal Blood Sugars”
ORDER NOW! www.diabetes911.net
or Call 1-800-798-6972 or
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

< Prev		Next >