Richard K. Bernstein

Last updated
Richard K. Bernstein
Born (1934-06-17) June 17, 1934 (age 89)
NationalityAmerican
Education Columbia University (BA, BS)
Albert Einstein College of Medicine (MD)
Alma mater The Franklin School
Known forAdvocacy for a low-carbohydrate diet
Medical career
ProfessionFamily physician
Field Endocrinology

Richard K. Bernstein (born June 17, 1934) is a physician and an advocate for a low-carbohydrate diabetes diet to help achieve normal blood sugars for diabetics. Bernstein has type 1 diabetes. His private medical practice in Mamaroneck, New York is devoted solely to treating diabetes and prediabetes.

Contents

Biography

Bernstein attended The Franklin School, a college prep school on Upper West Side of Manhattan, and graduated from Columbia University with a BA in 1954 and a BS in 1955. [1] He worked as an industrial-management engineer and director of research, development and marketing for Clay Adams, a manufacturer and supplier of medical laboratory equipment. He then became director of corporate planning at National Silver Industries, an importer and manufacturer of housewares. [2] [3]

Bernstein was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at age 12 in 1946. In 1969, he sought to acquire a blood glucose testing kit, which at the time were only sold to doctors. At the time, he was a systems engineer. He bought a blood glucose meter manufactured by Miles Laboratories. [4] Because he was not a doctor the meter was issued to his wife, who was a psychiatrist. He became the first diabetic patient to monitor his own blood sugar. [5] By trial and error, he found that he could keep his blood sugar at normal non-diabetic levels by eating small low-carbohydrate meals covered by small doses of insulin (Bernstein 2011).

Bernstein's efforts to publish articles on his experience in medical journals were rejected because he was not a doctor. He applied to and was accepted at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine at age 45 and graduated as an endocrinologist. [3] He proceeded to establish a clinical practice using treatment methods based on his own experience.

Controversy

Dr. Bernstein contends that high blood sugars are the cause of all diabetic complications, and therefore that tightly controlling blood sugar eliminates complications. This contention was at first at odds with established medical opinion, as the sugar-complications link was not yet clearly established from scientific studies. A 1993 study supported Bernstein's position that tight control of blood sugar leads to better health. [6] [7]

Bernstein's low-carbohydrate diet was initially opposed by the American Diabetes Association, which recommended a high-carbohydrate low-fat diet for diabetics. [8] The ADA has since changed its position to allow a low-carbohydrate diet as an acceptable option for diabetics. [9] [10] The UK NHS has also introduced a low-carbohydrate plan for diabetics and prediabetics. [11]

Bernstein's focus on maintaining low blood sugar targets conflicts with mainstream guidance to maintain a higher fasting blood sugar target for insulin-dependent patients (such as Type 1 diabetics). [12] This higher target is to reduce the risk of hypoglycemia which can be fatal. Type 1 diabetics on Bernstein's regime need to be constantly on guard against hypoglycemia. Bernstein claims however that the hypoglycemia risk is even higher with the high-carb low-fat original ADA standard diet because it requires big doses of insulin. [13]

Bibliography

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hypoglycemia</span> Health condition

Hypoglycemia, also called low blood sugar, is a fall in blood sugar to levels below normal, typically below 70 mg/dL (3.9 mmol/L). Whipple's triad is used to properly identify hypoglycemic episodes. It is defined as blood glucose below 70 mg/dL (3.9 mmol/L), symptoms associated with hypoglycemia, and resolution of symptoms when blood sugar returns to normal. Hypoglycemia may result in headache, tiredness, clumsiness, trouble talking, confusion, fast heart rate, sweating, shakiness, nervousness, hunger, loss of consciousness, seizures, or death. Symptoms typically come on quickly.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Insulin pump</span> Medical device to administer insulin

An insulin pump is a medical device used for the administration of insulin in the treatment of diabetes mellitus, also known as continuous subcutaneous insulin therapy. The device configuration may vary depending on design. A traditional pump includes:

Intensive insulin therapy or flexible insulin therapy is a therapeutic regimen for diabetes mellitus treatment. This newer approach contrasts with conventional insulin therapy. Rather than minimize the number of insulin injections per day, the intensive approach favors flexible meal times with variable carbohydrate as well as flexible physical activities. The trade-off is the increase from 2 or 3 injections per day to 4 or more injections per day, which was considered "intensive" relative to the older approach. In North America in 2004, many endocrinologists prefer the term "flexible insulin therapy" (FIT) to "intensive therapy" and use it to refer to any method of replacing insulin that attempts to mimic the pattern of small continuous basal insulin secretion of a working pancreas combined with larger insulin secretions at mealtimes. The semantic distinction reflects changing treatment.

The following is a glossary of diabetes which explains terms connected with diabetes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hyperglycemia</span> Too much blood sugar, usually because of diabetes

Hyperglycemia is a condition in which an excessive amount of glucose circulates in the blood plasma. This is generally a blood sugar level higher than 11.1 mmol/L (200 mg/dL), but symptoms may not start to become noticeable until even higher values such as 13.9–16.7 mmol/L (~250–300 mg/dL). A subject with a consistent fasting blood glucose range between ~5.6 and ~7 mmol/L is considered slightly hyperglycemic, and above 7 mmol/L is generally held to have diabetes. For diabetics, glucose levels that are considered to be too hyperglycemic can vary from person to person, mainly due to the person's renal threshold of glucose and overall glucose tolerance. On average, however, chronic levels above 10–12 mmol/L (180–216 mg/dL) can produce noticeable organ damage over time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diabetic coma</span> Medical condition

Diabetic coma is a life-threatening but reversible form of coma found in people with diabetes mellitus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blood sugar level</span> Concentration of glucose present in the blood (Glycaemia)

The blood sugar level, blood sugar concentration, blood glucose level, or glycemia is the measure of glucose concentrated in the blood. The body tightly regulates blood glucose levels as a part of metabolic homeostasis.

Diabetes is a chronic disease in cats whereby either insufficient insulin response or insulin resistance leads to persistently high blood glucose concentrations. Diabetes affects up to 1 in 230 cats, and may be becoming increasingly common. Diabetes is less common in cats than in dogs. The condition is treatable, and if treated properly the cat can experience a normal life expectancy. In cats with type 2 diabetes, prompt effective treatment may lead to diabetic remission, in which the cat no longer needs injected insulin. Untreated, the condition leads to increasingly weak legs in cats and eventually to malnutrition, ketoacidosis and/or dehydration, and death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diabetic hypoglycemia</span> Medical condition

Diabetic hypoglycemia is a low blood glucose level occurring in a person with diabetes mellitus. It is one of the most common types of hypoglycemia seen in emergency departments and hospitals. According to the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System-All Injury Program (NEISS-AIP), and based on a sample examined between 2004 and 2005, an estimated 55,819 cases involved insulin, and severe hypoglycemia is likely the single most common event.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Type 1 diabetes</span> Form of diabetes mellitus

Type 1 diabetes (T1D), formerly known as juvenile diabetes, is an autoimmune disease that originates when cells that make insulin are destroyed by the immune system. Insulin is a hormone required for the cells to use blood sugar for energy and it helps regulate glucose levels in the bloodstream. Before treatment this results in high blood sugar levels in the body. The common symptoms of this elevated blood sugar are frequent urination, increased thirst, increased hunger, weight loss, and other serious complications. Additional symptoms may include blurry vision, tiredness, and slow wound healing. Symptoms typically develop over a short period of time, often a matter of weeks if not months.

The term diabetes includes several different metabolic disorders that all, if left untreated, result in abnormally high concentrations of a sugar called glucose in the blood. Diabetes mellitus type 1 results when the pancreas no longer produces significant amounts of the hormone insulin, usually owing to the autoimmune destruction of the insulin-producing beta cells of the pancreas. Diabetes mellitus type 2, in contrast, is now thought to result from autoimmune attacks on the pancreas and/or insulin resistance. The pancreas of a person with type 2 diabetes may be producing normal or even abnormally large amounts of insulin. Other forms of diabetes mellitus, such as the various forms of maturity-onset diabetes of the young, may represent some combination of insufficient insulin production and insulin resistance. Some degree of insulin resistance may also be present in a person with type 1 diabetes.

Alpha-glucosidase inhibitors (AGIs) are oral anti-diabetic drugs used for diabetes mellitus type 2 that work by preventing the digestion of carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are normally converted into simple sugars (monosaccharides) by alpha-glucosidase enzymes present on cells lining the intestine, enabling monosaccharides to be absorbed through the intestine. Hence, alpha-glucosidase inhibitors reduce the impact of dietary carbohydrates on blood sugar.

A diabetic diet is a diet that is used by people with diabetes mellitus or high blood sugar to minimize symptoms and dangerous complications of long-term elevations in blood sugar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diabetes management software</span>

Diabetes Management Software refers to software tools that run on personal computers and personal digital assistants to help persons with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes manage the data associated with:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blood sugar regulation</span> Hormones regulating blood sugar levels

Blood sugar regulation is the process by which the levels of blood sugar, the common name for glucose dissolved in blood plasma, are maintained by the body within a narrow range.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seale Harris</span>

Seale Harris was an American physician and researcher born in Cedartown, Georgia. He was nicknamed "the Benjamin Franklin of Medicine" by contemporaries for his leadership and writing on a wide range of medical and political topics. Dr. Harris' most celebrated accomplishments were his 1924 hypothesis of hyperinsulinism as a cause of spontaneous hypoglycemia.

Chronic Somogyi rebound is a contested explanation of phenomena of elevated blood sugars experienced by diabetics in the morning. Also called the Somogyi effect and posthypoglycemic hyperglycemia, it is a rebounding high blood sugar that is a response to low blood sugar. When managing the blood glucose level with insulin injections, this effect is counter-intuitive to people who experience high blood sugar in the morning as a result of an overabundance of insulin at night.

Complications of diabetes are secondary diseases that are a result of elevated blood glucose levels that occur in diabetic patients. These complications can be divided into two types: acute and chronic. Acute complications are complications that develop rapidly and can be exemplified as diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), hyperglycemic hyperosmolar state (HHS), lactic acidosis (LA), and hypoglycemia. Chronic complications develop over time and are generally classified in two categories: microvascular and macrovascular. Microvascular complications include neuropathy, nephropathy, and retinopathy; while cardiovascular disease, stroke, and peripheral vascular disease are included in the macrovascular complications.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diabetes in dogs</span>

Diabetes mellitus is a disease in which the beta cells of the endocrine pancreas either stop producing insulin or can no longer produce it in enough quantity for the body's needs. The disease can affect humans as well as animals such as dogs.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to diabetes mellitus :

References

  1. "Richard K. Bernstein, M.D., F.A.C.E., F.A.C.N., F.C.C.W.S" (PDF). Retrieved June 11, 2022.
  2. "Columbia College Today". www.college.columbia.edu. Retrieved 2022-06-12.
  3. 1 2 Singer, Penny (1988-04-03). "Diabetic Doctor Offers a New Treatment". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2022-06-12.
  4. Roth, Margaret C. (July–September 2018). "Patient, Test Thyself". Army AL & T Magazine: 101–111.
  5. "Early history of blood-glucose meters".
  6. Singer, Penny (July 18, 1993). "'Vindication' for a Diabetes Expert". The New York Times.
  7. Diabetes Control Complications Trial Research Group; Nathan, D. M.; Genuth, S.; Lachin, J.; Cleary, P.; Crofford, O.; Davis, M.; Rand, L.; Siebert, C. (1993). "The effect of intensive treatment of diabetes on the development and progression of long-term complications in insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus". The New England Journal of Medicine. 329 (14): 977–986. doi: 10.1056/NEJM199309303291401 . PMID   8366922. S2CID   21528496.
  8. "Bernstein Diet". MSN. 1 January 2013.
  9. "American Diabetes Association endorses low-carb diet as option". Diet Doctor. April 25, 2019.
  10. "American Diabetes Association 2019 consensus statement". ADA. April 25, 2019.
  11. "Low Carb Program - Sustainable Weight Loss and Blood Glucose Control". Low Carb Program - Sustainable Weight Loss and Blood Glucose Control.
  12. "Diabetes UK standard blood sugar ranges for diabetics and non-diabetics". 15 January 2019.
  13. "Bernstein video lecture on hypoglycemia". YouTube . Archived from the original on 2021-12-14.

Further reading