My low carb diet

After my recent post on my thoughts on diets and their potential impact on the pathways that impact Dupuytren's and Ledderhose I had a few questions about what diet I am on exactly. The answer is a low-carb high fat diet. We do not follow any particular rules or book but have made up our own way of doing things that work for us and even I differ from what my wife has. The main difference between the 2 of us is that I avoid sweetener more than she does e.g. diet coke and low carb chocolate but I probably have a bit more fat e.g. in cream or leaving the fat on the bacon. 

Now I don't want to make this into a low carb blog but if there is any particular interest in this or in any of the recipes below and I think it will be beneficial then I might add some more but I think it is unlikely, after all this is the Ledderhose disease blog. 

To be honest most of the below is actually a case of making an alternative, different bread, ground almonds rather than flour, almond yogurt instead of normal and certainly never get low fat options for anything, cauliflower mash / rice rather than the normal. Breakfast is the most different as can have a fry up every day and we did for the first year that we were on the diet. 

Breakfasts: 

Low carb bacon sandwich - The bread is from Tom Kerridge book Dopamine diet and is mainly ground almond and flax seed based. 

Bacon, egg, leek and mushroom. 

Fruit, almond yogurt and nut butter 

Pizza Omelette

Lunch: (can use some of these breakfast)

Chicken salad

Tuna Mayo 

Bacon, chicken and mayo sandwich (same bread as above can be used to make lots of different sandwiches) 

Dinner:

Curry with cauliflower rice

Cottage pie (cauliflower mash) and packed with lots of veg e.g. cabbage, leek, mushroom, celery, radish, kale, spinach etc. 

Chilli 

Lasagna - lots of alternatives for pasta there is one that uses psyllium (sp?) husk or you can use leek or white radish. 

I have created a few Chinese dishes including chicken and cashew nuts, sweet and sour, egg fried cauliflower rice, chicken balls etc and you can have crispy duck. 

Puddings: We try to only use natural sweetened (by fruit)

Jelly and ice cream 

Fruit and yogurt 

Pear and raspberry low carb pie (pastry made with ground almonds and custard with no sugar)

Author in a book

I am delighted to say that the new Dupuytren's book that has been published as a result of the conference in Holland last year. I am co-author in 2 of the chapters due to the patient survey that I initiated. I was unable to help too much with the actual writing of the chapters as it came at a busy time time in my life but luckily Anna stepped up and did a fantastic job. I am being sent a free copy of the book and looking forward to it arriving. If anyone wants the book they can get it here. 

It is funny how things go though, 4 years ago I was giving up my PhD due to the pain that Ledderhose disease was causing me, I put a lot of my life and time into my blog and researching the condition. It was from the blog that I became a trustee for the British Dupuytren's Society and this gave me the confidence to begin the survey. As a result of so many patients filling in the survey I got the chance to present the results at an international medical conference and now my work is published in a book.  

That Sugar Film

Some people may question the relevance of a post on a documentary about sugar on a blog about a rare foot condition however our health is all linked together and I have noticed a marked improvement in my overall well-being since removing sugar from my diet. 

The thing that annoys me however is the criticism I get for being on a low sugar, high fat diet. The science, despite what others may say, is firmly on my side and the theory it is all about calories in against calories out is wrong and the type of calories matter. A lot of my problems with sugar, with calories, with cholesterol and the modern take on these things are very well illustrated in That Sugar Film. 

Personally I recommend that anyone and everyone watch it, the problem is that those that most need to watch it will probably ignore it. The problem is that people think that fat people are just weak of mind when in fact their bodies are less able to process carbohydrates and this causes a host of problems many of which are on the insides of those that are not fat externally.

This post is hopefully going to be the start of me making a stand against sugar. I am fed up of people questioning my way of eating without looking at the evidence. I am proud to say that I am low-carb, healthier and fitter than ever and out of everyone I know I can honestly say I have the healthiest diet of everyone. Ask yourself this.. When did you last eat any of the following, cake, sweets, sugary drinks, fruit juice, bread (yes it is not healthy), beer etc. I can say I have not eaten them, at least in the conventional sugar filled sense, in 20 months and not wanted them for the best part of 18 months.   

In terms of the relevance to these conditions.. It is not known how the conditions are triggered other than the probably genetic element. It is highly likely, due to the reported link to diabetes and thyroid conditions etc, that there is also a hormonal element so I have to question whether I am myself to blame for the development of this painful condition in my foot. Did my sugar levels and poor eating trigger an epigenetic event that caused the onset of the condition. On top of this it was 100% sugar, or at least my inability to a) process it and b) control my eating of it that caused me to be overweight, well obese and certainly being overweight could have been a contributing factor towards the trauma that may have caused the beginnings of this condition. 

Of course the above is conjecture but That Sugar Film is a great way of getting a non-scientific audience to understand the issues at hand. Sugar is addictive and it is not healthy. I urge everyone to please watch this film, it is fairly cheap and I am sure it will be a real eye opening for most.  

UK - That Sugar Film

US - That Sugar Film

Ketogenic diet keeps cancer at bay?

I have probably mentioned this subject before, there is evidence that ketogenic or low carb diet may help to keep cancer at bay. I don't think anyone is suggesting it is a cure but rates of cancer have increased as a carbohydrate rich diet has become popular. Of course it is one of a multitude of factors including smoking, pollution, ageing etc and so you can not even begin to suggest that its involvement is a fact, it is purely speculation. Right from the start I am going to say that I am a massive advocate of a low-carb, high fat diet and feel that not many people are going to suffer from being on it and that many will suffer from not being on it. (I mean suffer in general not cancer).

Today I came across the following link

http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/03/05/468285545/fighting-cancer-by-putting-tumor-cells-on-a-diet

I found this really interesting. Having previously worked in cancer research I do not agree with the mutations are not required as there is such a strong link between DNA damage, mutations and cancer. Nevertheless I do find the metabolic aspect of the report very interesting. The article states "the potential of dietary approaches to contain the disease."

Diet is being used to complement traditional approaches and this is a good idea. As I said the idea is that in order to sustain themselves the cancer cells need glucose, they need sugar otherwise they cannot sustain themselves. The thing with cancer cells is that they are growing out of control, they can't very easily (I am not qualified to say they can't at all) stop themselves from trying to replicate so they run out of energy and boom they struggle more than a normal cell would which can switch to using fat as its primary energy source and be happy. 

As is also stated in the article the problem is money. There is money in creating a drug that battles cancer there is no money in creating a diet, even if it is good for the patients. I think the same thing applies to diets in general as there is money in getting people hooked on sugar and there are so many companies that rely on this that a shift to a low carb diet by the masses would ruin them. Hence the reason there are many (failed? as there are not many publications) studies on high carb diets and not so many on high fat diets. 

Anyway I noticed after I started low carb that many things changed and one of these was the slight pain that still came from my foot. You could argue that it was the weight loss by the pain stopped well before I had lost significant amounts of weight, I strongly believe that Ledderhose is another of the many small (it is only a small issue for me since RT) medical issues that going low-carb has helped heal. 

There are actually pilot studies that show that patients have improved their situation using a low-carb diet: 

http://authoritynutrition.com/ketogenic-diets-and-cancer/ - Good review

I think there is room to see whether Dupuytren's and Ledderhose patients could see improvements under this way of eating. After all the conditions

• Involved tumours
• Are often progressive and painful so can be tracked by the patient
• Are not life threatening - so giving a diet a go is not going to hurt? 
• There is no cure - Currently there is no cure, there is no way to really stop the condition so giving this a try. 

I am not saying that patients should give it a try but I am saying based on the evidence it could be worth a go and perhaps they should track it so we can see the improvement. For me it was an unexpected side effect of trying to lose weight. 

Of course you should see your doctor and if you and they think radiotherapy (for example) is a better treatment option and you can afford it then don't put it off because you want to see if a diet could work. After all I don't think it could be a cure I just think it could help. 

Any thoughts? 

I have also found the following references: 

A low-carb diet kills tumor cells with a mutant p53 tumor suppressor gene

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3610718/

Dietary downregulation of mutant p53 levels via glucose restriction

Mechanisms and implications for tumor therapy

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3552926/

Shockwaves for Dupuytren's, Ledderhose and related conditions

Recently I came into contact with a gentleman at Cell Sonic, they manufacture the equipment used to treat with Shock-Waves. This is an interesting treatment which has very little documented evidence. My gut says that this is a treatment that is worth a try. From what I have read it appears that there is very little to lose in terms of side effects or aggravating the condition but it could potentially help. Really what is need is a bigger and better study than the one I discussed before. 

Anyway the guy that I spoke to is extremely passionate about this technology and it was clear to me that he really thought that it could be a great way to treat many different problems. 

Below is a copy of some information that I received from CellSonic and have published with their full permission. If there are any doctors that are interested in using this treatment then please get in touch. I have been told it is a diverse piece of equipment and that it would pay for itself without even taking into account the conditions I am interested in. Then again the person selling it is of course going to say that. 

Doing a bit of research and a quick search of PubMed certainly shows that there is a lot of information out there and it has been used to treat scar tissue and many other conditions. 

http://www.cellsonic-medical.com/cellsonic.htm

Dupuytren's contracture can be almost totally cured using CellSonic’s electro-hydraulic shockwaves. This is a non-invasive, drug free treatment that takes about five minutes. Sudden bursts of sound are directed into the palm and fingers to loosen the tightening cells pulling the fingers. The vital characteristic of a shockwave is that from zero decibels to high must happen in a few nanoseconds. To achieve that, CellSonic flashes 25,000 volts across a one millimeter gap inside water and the sound wave projected through gel into the hand which is also acting as water. The fast moving sound wave hits the tightened cord and stretches it. Moreover, it activates stem cells to migrate to the site because through the nerves the brain has detected a problem and is  instructing white blood cells to make a repair. The patient will feel the shockwaves and it will be uncomfortable, some would say painful, but do tolerate it because the nerves are sending a necessary message to the brain. An anesthetic would block that message and the immune system will not be activated. The fastest rise time of decibels is achieved with the CellSonic machine so fewer shocks and fewer treatments are needed. The recommendation is for 1,000 shocks at energy level 5 using a shock head focused at 5 mm. Aim the shocks on the area of the palm and the fingers where the tightening is apparent, keeping the shock head sliding gently around on the gel. If another treatment will help, do it two weeks after the first. Improvements are still taking place a year after the last treatment. This is because the shockwaves are causing new cells to grow thanks to the stem cells. Dupuytren's contracture involves similar cell damage to that experienced with plantar fasciitis, Ledderhose Disease and Peyronie’s disease. They can all be treated with the same protocol described above except Peyronies needs fewer shocks at lower energy level.

There are no side effects and that has been proved over the last 40 years because the same technology has been used with much more powerful machines to break kidney stones and millions of patients have been treated without side effects. Other applications with shockwaves include healing wounds because they kill infection, repairing broken bone, treating sports injuries and releasing pain. In Germany, CellSonic shockwaves are being used to reduce cellulite and this will soon be marketed in other countries.

The shockwaves will do two things. Firstly they will damage, soften, loosen and release the tightening tendons and cells which are causing pain and problems. This is an alternative to the scalpel which certainly has side effects.

Secondly, the immune system is triggered because the brain senses that the body has been attacked. It is the immune system that causes new cells to grow and that is achieved by causing stem cells to be released by the pelvic bone where they are stored. It has been shown that zapping the pelvic bone is helpful.

The distributor who can arrange for doctors to try the machine is:

Mark Wilson, Managing Director

Cellsonic Ltd

M            07794822295

E              mark@cellsonic-medical.com

W            www.cellsonic-medical.com

T              @cellsonicESWT

F              https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cellsonic-Ltd/382099131900991

Radiotherapy Video

I finally got round to making the follow up to the original video I made on my experience with this condition, this can be found here: 

My Ledderhose experience video 1 

I have made other videos as well including the following new video which is part 2 to this: 

My Ledderhose radiotherapy treatment - my experience part 2

Other videos include: 

Dupuytren's and its Genetics 

Radiotherapy 

Risk factors for Ledderhose and Dupuytren's disease

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Meeting with a Dupuytren's patient

So the treatment today went pretty much as expected but I didn’t get the pictures that I wanted and I shall explain why. When I arrived I was told by one of the nurses that Dr Shaffer had an appointment on Monday with a Dupuytren’s patient who was getting radiotherapy but they were starting to develop Ledderhose.  Dr Shaffer had told her that he had a patient who had Ledderhose and whom he knew had done lots of research and as it turned out my appointment was directly before hers. So they asked me if I would be willing to stay after my appointment and chat with this lady. I of course said yes. How could I not? What I would have given to be able to talk to someone about this when I had it in the early stages. So after my appointment I waited round and then this lady and I had a chat.

I have stuck the above logo in to demonstrate Dupuytren's, as you can see one of the fingers has contracted.

She started by explaining that she had DD and was getting RT and was starting to show LD but was not in pain at the moment and asked what had happened to me. I went through the usual story and all the different things I had tried and we learnt that we had both considered going to Germany for the treatment though I had got further in the process and we agreed that the cost of going was only worth it when you had more than one extremity that required treatment. We were both very happy with the treatment that we were receiving.

She was in her second week which was about 6 weeks after her first and it was reassuring to hear that she can already see improvement from the first time. Her only thoughts were that she wish she had got it done sooner and that was why she was asking me on my thoughts on Ledderhose. I said that I didn’t think it was worth getting it done until it was painful, sure getting it done earlier might help and it might delay progression but you don’t know that you are going to progress to the point where it is painful and therefore why should you spend that money and get the dose of radiation when you might not ever need it.

Annoyingly I picked up a different bag this morning so I didn’t have any leaflets with me but I said just Google Ledderhose Disease Blog and you should be able to find it easy enough and that is what she said she would do. So if you are now reading this then hi!

I am thinking of taking some of my leaflets with me tomorrow and the only thing is that I wish I could change it so that the radiotherapy bit said not approved for use on the NHS rather than in the UK but the leaflet does direct to this blog where that information is explained and I even have a link to Dr Shaffer on the helpful links page.

I have ordered some E45 to come this evening so I can start using that and I am sure that in the coming weeks I am going to see a change for the better, well I hope so anyway.