Atkins Diabetes Revolution (16 page)

Beta-Blockers

Another group of medications commonly used to treat high blood pressure are the beta-blockers. These drugs work by blocking a receptor that regulates your heart rate and blood vessel tightness.This keeps your heart from speeding up and relaxes the blood vessels, but there’s a major downside: The very same receptor that’s found in the cells of your heart and blood vessels is also present in fat cells.
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Beta-blockers block your body’s ability to move stored fat out of fat cells. For many patients, this results in weight gain, which only worsens high blood pressure. If you take insulin, you could be at risk for life-threatening problems from beta-blockers, because they prevent your body’s normal response to low blood sugar. The combination of insulin and a beta-blocker can cause dangerously low blood sugar that is very difficult to raise.
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Calcium Channel Blockers

Calcium channel blockers (amlodipine, bepridil, and others) are also used to treat hypertension. These drugs relax your blood vessels, but when used alone they may not bring your blood pressure down enough. Constipation is a major side effect.

ACE Inhibitors

Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACE inhibitors) are popular among patients with diabetes because they don’t have any effect on insulin, blood sugar, or weight, and because they have been shown to slow the progression of kidney damage. However, these drugs often cause a persistent dry cough, which means some patients with asthma and other respiratory problems can’t take them.

Angiotensin Receptor Blockers

Closely related to ACE inhibitors is a newer group of drugs called angiotensin receptor blockers, or ARBs. People who can’t take ACE inhibitors can usually take ARBs. Like the ACE inhibitors, ARBs help protect the kidneys in patients with diabetes.If you take either of these types of drugs, you need to have your kidney function monitored regularly, because they can impair kidney function in people with decreased blood flow to the kidneys.
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,
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Before Dr.Atkins even considered prescribing powerful pharmaceuticals,he would ask his patients to follow the ABSCP until he could evaluate their response. The dietary changes alone are often enough to bring blood pressure down significantly. But multivitamin and mineral supplements and exercise are major parts of the program as well, and these, too, play a crucial role in lowering blood pressure. For patients who require more help to bring down their blood pressure, Dr. Atkins would prescribe additional supplements,targeted to their individual needs.

He found that people with high blood pressure usually respond well to a combination of several different supplements, including magnesium, the amino acid taurine, essential fatty acids, and coenzyme Q
₁₀
.(We’ll discuss these supplements and others for heart health in Chapter 21.)

When a patient’s blood pressure was only mildly elevated or if it had responded well to a controlled-carb approach and exercise, Dr. Atkins would use lower supplement doses.Of course,if a patient’s blood pressure was so high that he or she was already taking drugs,or that it posed an immediate risk, he used medications and larger supplement doses until the ABSCP had taken effect. In many cases, his patients found their blood pressure came down to normal or near normal levels within a few months, if not sooner. For those patients who still needed medication for hypertension, he was able to keep the doses to a minimum and was often able to get them down to just one drug.

Remember, if you’re already taking blood pressure drugs and start following the Atkins approach, you’ll probably need to lower your dosages as the benefits of controlling carbohydrates kick in. Establish
in advance
with your doctor a plan about which medications to taper as your blood pressure improves.

Jeff T., a university professor, had severe metabolic syndrome and hyper- tension. He took three drugs daily for hypertension alone. He decided to
begin the Atkins Nutritional Approach, but because of his demanding schedule, he didn’t wait to come in for an appointment and medication plan. After three days of doing Atkins on his own, he was forced to discontinue all his medications. Unfortunately, this required a hospital stay because his blood pressure dropped so low. He laughed and told me, “Well, Doc, it really works!” It does work but this is a good example of why it is so important to work closely with your doctor to plan a strategy in advance, so medications can be safely tapered.
    —M
ARY
V
ERNON

As your blood pressure improves, so will your heart health—but there’s more to improving your cardiac health than blood pressure alone. That’s what we’ll discuss in the next chapter.

WHAT’S YOUR BLOOD PRESSURE IQ?

1. Systolic pressure is the pressure:

1. when your heart beats
   
2. when your heart relaxes between beats
   
3. when your heart stops
   

2. Normal blood pressure is less than 120/80.What are the readings for the stages of hypertension?

1. prehypertension
   
2. stage 1 hypertension
   
3. stage 2 hypertension
   

3. The main symptom of prehypertension is:

1. headache
   
2. dizziness
   
3. tiredness
   
4. nausea
   
5. none
   

4. High blood pressure increases your risk of:

1. heart disease
   
2. stroke
   
3. kidney disease
   
4. eye disease
   
5. all of the above
   

Answers
stage 2 hypertension is 160/100 and higher.3.e.4.e.
140/90 to 159/99;
stage 1 hypertension is
prehypertension is 120/80 to 139/89;
2.1.
a.

A SPARKLING ACHIEVEMENT

Barbara Woodruff had the metabolic syndrome, but despite taking several medications for hypertension, she was not able to control her blood pressure. Now that she has dropped 70 pounds, significantly lowered her blood pressure, and felt her energy skyrocket, she can pursue her hobby as a fireworks technician.

People look at me and think I’m just a little gray-haired grandmother who does needlework and has semiretired to Florida. Little do they know that at 62, I am so filled with energy because of my adherence to the Atkins Nutritional Approach that I spend much of my free time shooting off fireworks!

Yes, you read that right. I’m a pyrotechnics expert. I shoot off fireworks both by computers and by hand. I even choreograph shows to music. It’s a hobby I simply love. I wouldn’t be able to do it if it hadn’t been for Dr. Atkins. I adopted the Atkins lifestyle on April 1, 2001, and lost 70 pounds in less than one year. That was great, but even better was that Isignificantly lowered my blood pressure while my energy level skyrocketed. I was working once on a fireworks job with a 23-year-old guy and literally wore him out. He quit at the end of the day!

BEFORE AFTER

N
AME
: Barbara Woodruff

A
GE
:62

H
EIGHT
:5 feet 1
½
inches

W
EIGHT
B
EFORE
:

    
216 pounds

W
EIGHT
A
FTER
:

    
145 pounds

If I had not gotten control of my blood pressure (today I take only one blood pressure medication, instead of three), I would not be allowed near the fireworks. If I had a heart attack or a stroke out on the field (the area where fireworks are shot off), who knows what could happen? No one would be able to help me because even firefighters can’t be within a certain boundary around the fireworks.

In my “real job,” I work at Disney World. It’s work that requires me to be on my feet for most of the day, and I would not have had the stamina to keep up if it wasn’t for my Atkins lifestyle. I’m trying to get on the Disney World pyrotechnics team (my dream job), but for now I am working in the shops on Main Street. One of them is the fudge shop. People always ask me, “Don’t you want to eat everything?” I can honestly say, “No, I don’t.” Doing Atkins has permanently taken away my sugar cravings. If a slight urge for something sweet trickles in, I eat an Atkins Endulge bar and that takes care of it.

I can always tell when I’ve slipped up a bit and had too many carbohydrates, usually around the holidays. When I eat something high-carb, my heart starts racing and my face gets flushed.When I’ve gone up to 150 pounds from my normal weight of 145, I can tell because I start huffing and puffing as I walk through the tunnels underneath Disney, which are used by employees to get around quickly. Then I go right back to Induction and in a week, the weight is gone and I feel great again.

As with many women, my weight problem started after I had children. The pounds crept on after each pregnancy. At age 42, I became a single parent, and the stress resulted in my putting on even more weight. Then I had a hysterectomy, began hormone replacement therapy, and ballooned up 20 pounds almost overnight. A few years later, I developed high blood pressure.

When I reached 216 pounds, I said, “That’s it.” In the early 1990s, I had tried doing Atkins and lost 15 pounds. But it was hard to stay on it with people pestering me that it defied the government recommendations in the form of the food guide pyramid. Also, it was difficult to know which foods were high in carbohydrate, because the labeling on products was quite poor back then.

This time around, no one, not even my doctor, was going to stop me. I lost about 12 pounds during the first week. About eight weeks later, I had my blood pressure checked and it had already dropped. By January 1, 2002, I had lost 70 pounds and felt terrific. Now, my blood pressure has gone from 160/90 to 145/85.

It’s so easy to maintain this lifestyle today because there are so many delicious low-carb products in stores. Even restaurants are making it easy by offering low-carb meals. I work out along with a daily exercise program on local television.

I recently studied for, and got, a Florida commercial driver’s license, as well as certification to haul hazardous materials. I love driving an 18- wheeler! I’ve also taken up counted cross-stitching as a hobby. I guess the latter is a more typical “grandmotherly” activity. I bet you’ve never met someone whose grandchildren watch a fireworks show and can say, “My Nana did that!” I’m thrilled to say that mine can.

Note: Your individual results may vary from those reported here. As stated previously, Atkins recommends initial laboratory evaluation and subsequent follow-up in conjunction with your health care provider.

Chapter 9

THE CARDIAC CONNECTION

Are you ready for the most alarming statistic you will find in this book? About 75 percent of people who have diabetes will die of heart disease.
1

The deteriorated state of health—now known as the metabolic syndrome—that brought you to your diabetes diagnosis eventually leads to the formation of artery-narrowing plaques that cause reduced blood flow to your heart. In the worst cases, this progresses to arterial blockage, causing a heart attack. Half of those who do not survive their heart attack will die within the first hour; many will not make it to the hospital.
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Even if you do survive that heart attack, your heart muscle will never be the same.