Diabetes & Credibility

In order to begin talking about credibility in diabetic treatment articles, we first need to understand what diabetes is. Diabetes is a condition in which there are high levels of sugar in the blood (4). Typically, Insulin, a hormone produced by the pancreas, is used by the body to control blood sugar (4). In the case of diabetics, their body cannot produce enough insulin, is resistance to insulin, or both (4). There are two types of diabetes. Type 1 Diabetes occurs at any age where the body naturally does not produce or produces very little insulin in the body – Daily injections of insulin is needed (4). Type 2 Diabetes is most often a result of obesity (4). For this post, we will focus on the credibility of DiabeRex, “The New Diabetes Miracle”.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuvWE9Ws7fM&feature=player_embedded

DiabeRex is a diabetic supplement aimed to lower blood sugar, cholesterol level, hypertension and boost healthy blood flow through the combined efforts of various medicinal herbs (1). Michael Dess, the author of this article, claims DiabeRex is chemically free and has no side effects (1). With a healthy diet and exercise, Michael assures users of DiabeRex will see results within 15-60 days (1).

When I first came across this webpage, I was surprised at the amount of information it offered. The tedious article provided diabetic information, videos, testimonials and promotional offers on the pill. Although most of the information is related to diabetes itself, there are sections which lack credibility.

The five areas that lack credibility on www.diaberex.com:

1)      Author – The article was written by Michael Dess (No doctors, nutritionist or professional of any kind to support this medication.)

2)      Testimonials, evidence for successfulness, have been provided but no further detail was elaborated - Michael Dess could have “created” these people.

Testimonies of DiabeRex

3)      The domain “www.diaberex.com” suggests that Michael Dess has purchased this web address and published information on this product in order to gain financially. Anyone who has IT experience can purchase a domain, and slap information on.

4)      The contact information provided leads to Michael Dess. No other contact information was provided – perhaps webpage would be more reliable if contact information leading to a medical professional was provided.

Contact Information for DiabeRex

5)   Michael Dess has provided a list of ingredients and details about the traditional herbs used in DiabeRex, but he did not disclose any references to the experimental research done to prove the effects. The individual herbs may have medicinal properties to relieve certain symptoms but when combined, could they be hazardous to our life?

One of the Five Ingredients in DiabeRex

In my research for reliable information about diabetes, I stumbled across the search engine PubMed Health. Pubmed Health is a reputable search engine for latest medical information and research (2). It is a service provided by the National Center for Biotechnology Information at the U.S. National Library of Medicine (2). The website is available at www.pubmed.ca

The testimonies on www.diaberex.com where individuals have said that DiabeRex led to lower cholesterol, improved vision and blood sugars returning to normal is misleading (1). PubMed reveals that these problems can be prevented by maintaining a healthy diet and regular physical activity (3). 


Michael Dess claims that exercise and a healthy diet is needed to complement the drug. If a healthy diet and physical activity reduces the level of blood sugar (3), which promotes a healthier diabetic life, why would there be a need for DiabeRex?


From the comparison of these two websites, I find myself more alert of the reliability of information on the internet – especially information regarding my health. Why would anyone purchase supplement/medication from an unprofessional page like DiabeRex? I personally would not order these pills for my diabetic father unless further references have been provided. Thus, whenever one is researching on health related issues, it is important to examine the credibility of the page.

Work Cited:

1) Dess, Michael. (2012). DiabeRex - The New Diabetes Miracle. Retrieved from http://www.diaberex.com

2) PubMed Health. (n.d.). About PubMed Health. Retrieved from 

       http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/about/

3) PubMed Health. (2011, June 28). Type 2 Diabetes. Retrieved from 

       http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001356/

4) PubMed Health. (2011, August 11). Diabetes. Retrieved from

       http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002194/

Introduction

Hello Everyone! I would like to welcome you all to my first ever blog on the internet! My name is Sunny Wong and I am a first year business student at Simon Fraser University. I have no idea as to what my concentration will be, nor do I know if Business Administration is the faculty for me. There are plenty of routes to take within an institution like SFU, so I am not concerned with my career path. Although my future may be a blur at the moment, there is one thing I do know for sure: I want to live a holistically healthy life. By taking Kinesiology - Contemporary Health Issues, I hope to be more aware of my own health status as well as those who I care about.

I have a question for the readers who may read this blog: Have you ever had a close relative or friend who has been diagnosed with a chronic illness such as cancer, asthma or diabetes? When I was around the age ten, my father was diagnosed with diabetes. Since then, he has been taking insulin pills and doing diabetic tests with a Diabetic Testing Meter.

Three Diabetic Testing Meters

As a human who often tries to understand the causes of things, I try to make sense as to why my father was so unlucky. For the majority of his career as a Cabinet Maker, he has been supporting the family alone; he's the financial pillar of the house and I truly understand that this pressure placed on him can be extremely frustrating and stressing. With the adequate amount of exercise he receives due to the nature of his career, I can't exactly pinpoint one specific factor to his illness. The focus of this blog will then be to draw awareness to diabetes; diabetes relates to my family and is a preventable disease. Applying the knowledge obtained in Kinesiology - Contemporary Health Issues and the research I do for this blog, I hope to find effective ways to prevent diabetes and ways to promote health of diabetics.

Sources Cited:

Diabetes Healthy Solution. (2011). Diabetic Testing Meters. Retrieved from http://www.diabeteshealthysolutions.com/diabetic-testing-meters/