From:
sukiec@optonline.com
Date: 2003-04-10 01:15:03 UTC
Subject: Re: chicken gravy - insulinoma
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <348733.1049937303046.JavaMail.root@scandium>
It is important to remember to keep separate what is known from what is hypothesized.
Early surgery is typically the best approach and with many ferrets repeated surgeries can be done. If you look at past posts of Dr. Bruce Williams you'll notice that about 60% of ferrets don't have reoccurences if surgery is done early. Some ferrets have to instead have just medications, or later have medications.
Many years ago ferrets were given sugar and Prednisone to maintain them during insulinoma and they did pretty well, not as well as now, but it wasn't unusual to get 9 months or so from what we experienced and what others mentioned to us.
Then people began to worry that dietary sugars might cause the pancreas to react, worsening the already high insulin levels pumped out by the insulinoma growths.
Since then it has been found that late in insulinoma having dietary sugar doesn't hurt; in fact, once the Prednisone or Prednisolone and Diazoxide (also called Proglycem) have been pegged it can be possible to get extra months of quality life by adding dietary sugar then. At that point normal tissue has been replaced or suppressed by the disease, and the insluinoma does not react to dietary sugar. (See past posts by Dr. Williams.)
In the earlier stages we personally do not give dietary sugars IN CASE that may cause a yo-yo effect and worsen insulin levels that way. It is hypothetical, but it is a hypothesis that doesn't cause any damage and may be helpful.
Does that help?