Instigated by Gary Taubes and coordinated by Dr. Adele Hite we are extremely proud to announce the publication of our first official version of Clinical Guidelines for ‘The Prescription of Carbohydrate Restriction as a Therapeutic Intervention’. In order to ensure the integrity of the document, we formed a board of advisers made up of extremely well known and experienced clinical practitioners and experts in the field to help us get this work done. Currently this board consists of Prof. Tim Noakes, Dr. Gary Fettke, Dr. Stephen Phinney, Dr. Georgia Ede, Dr. Bret Scher, Dr. Robert Cywes, Dr. Eric Westman, Franziska Spritzler, Dr. Will Yancy, Dr. Brian Lenzkes, Dr. Laura Saslow and Dr. David Cavan. .Although this is the official panel, Adele solicited input form many others around the world as well including Dr. Aseem Malhotra, Dr. Caryn Zinn, Dr. David Unwin and Dr. Sarah Hallberg.
Most notable is that this initial clinical guidelines document is a general intervention document covering aspects that apply to all conditions. The document also identifies any points of contention where differing opinions exist or where further research is called for. Furthermore, work is now under way to publish an addendum for each specific chronic condition for which carbohydrate restriction may be prescribed. The current general intervention document can be found here.
Contribution of The Clinical Guidelines to The Standard of Care Initiative
More importantly, publishing these guidelines gets us one step closer to our major goal of establishing a Standard of Care for carbohydrate restriction. From a legal perspective, ‘Standard of Care‘ is defined as “providing health care in accordance with the standards of practice among members of the same health care profession with similar training and experience situated in the same or similar communities at the time the health care is rendered.” In other words, SoC does not come from what is taught in professional training, from public health policy, or even from clinical guidelines like the ones we have just published. However, they can have a significant impact on defining it. Rather, Standard of Care comes from what a community of clinicians do in the actual provision of care.
So our main task cultivate a community of clinicians who practice this approach. It is this community and its shared training and conversations about experiences and concerns that will, in time, establish the standard of care. You can learn more about our SoC Initiative here.
[Doug Reynolds: Founder – LowCarbUSA®]
