World Diabetes Day: The Day When Bush Doctors aka Quacks Also Get their Say

Yesterday was World Diabetes Day, and I “celebrated” it as I have done now for five consecutive World Diabetes Days much as I have always done, i.e. by waking up and checking Alexandra’s blood sugars. On this particular day (night) she was 53 at just after midnight. Not only not a good number for sleeping but downright dangerous so I shook her awake and sat her up and gave her three glucose tabs to chew up. About 15 minutes later she was still only at 60 so we followed the tabs with a couple of marshmallows (obviously, our house was juiceless since that is the go-to for a low but a mom does what she has to). But I digress. After her blood sugar crept up sufficiently I went back to sleep, but woke up twice more before my regular 5:00 am alarm to double check. You know diabetes is such a frigging insidious disease that we don’t play with it because it just doesn’t play fair.

The world was ablaze with pictures of buildings, monuments and skyscrapers awash in blue in honor of World Diabetes Day and there were plenty of new profile pictures on Facebook – pictures of hands with the word “hope” written, moms and dads and kids dressed in blue in support of all of the world’s diabetics. This was my profile pic on Facebook. And I wore my “CURE” tee shirt from the Diabetes Research Institute. 

Ghana is holding a 2-day long Diabetes Fair in Kumasi (though I wished it was in Accra because I would have attended) and I expected that that might be the end of the media attention. However, I was to be pleasantly surprised; I was traveling in a taxi to the grocery story and the driver had on a local radio station. Now what was being discussed was not clear to me since it was a tribal language and I unfortunately know very few words (well, I do know quite a few insults, like I know how to say you’re a fool, or ask if you’re crazy but that’s doesn’t get you very far). Anyway, the radio was playing and the commentator was talking when all of a sudden I heard these words… Canadian, Nobel Prize, Banting and insulin! Now I knew what they were talking about and it warmed my heart in a kind of bittersweet way.

Information, the right kind, was being spread. It was nice.

Then I got home and Googled Ghana and diabetes as I occasionally do and came upon an article written on Ghanaweb about pledging to take steps to fight diabetes. All in all it was a well written piece but as usual it failed to differentiate between type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes. Naturally, I was miffed, so I shot off a hurried comment about how it would have been nice if this medical professional could have explained how type 1 was an autoimmune disease, not preventable and currently without a cure. I said that he was perpetuating the misinformation that we are constantly living with, that my daughter’s diabetes was preventable and curable, and that lifestyle changes would be sufficient.

In his defense, the article’s author, Dr. Kojo Cobba Essel, replied to my comment and apologized, but that due to word constraints he couldn’t elaborate. He said he hoped to write another article specifically on type 1 diabetes. Then he also acknowledged my pain. Wow. That more than anything lifted my heart.

Unfortunately, there is also the response of another “doctor” though I believe that that is merely what he calls himself, as in “Bush Doctor.” And he had an awful lot to say, about how I could have prevented my daughter’s type 1 diabetes and how I could cure it with dietary changes, such as Moringa powder, flaxseed, aloe vera, tiger nut milk, avocado, etc.

Apparently you toss it all into a nice clean blender, whiz it around for a bit and in minutes you’ve got the cure for type 1 diabetes.

Now, why didn’t I know that?!

Of course, I couldn’t let that go. My response was he would basically have me kill my daughter if I gave her only that and that the only thing keeping her alive is insulin, the gift of Dr. Frederick Banting whose birthday we celebrated yesterday during World Diabetes Day.

There were some other things I said and he responded in kind.

It was all kind of funny until I realized that some people here in Ghana might read this and think it’s for real. Some people who are type 1 diabetics themselves, or have children or loved ones that they care for. They might actually lay down their Lantus pens and put away their syringes filled with Mixtard or Humalog or NPH or whatever it is that the “real” MDs here are now prescribing. I’m truly afraid that they might actually believe him.

So I sicced the DOC on him.

The DOC, the Diabetes Online Community, my friends.

Well, I don’t have to tell you what transpired because you can read it for yourself here. And if you have a mind, please feel free to offer your thoughts and comments to the good “Bush Doctor.”

Oh, and if anyone was wondering….

Wo Nim Se Wo Ye Kwasea Paaa!                  You know you are a real fool!

W’abo Dam!                                                   You are mad!

Wa Gimi Paa!                                                  You are very stupid!