Pete Doherty’s struggles with drugs have been no secret – but he claims he is now unhealthier than ever before.
The Libertines singer, 45, has type 2 diabetes, which causes blood sugar levels to become too high. It has now led to a terrifying warning by doctors that he may need to have his toes amputated. Addressing his fans on stage in Munich, Germany, he said: “I saw the doctor today and he said you need to stay off your feet as much as you can otherwise you’ll lose your toes.”
Pete has been visibly struggling in recent times with bandmate Carl Barat helping him off stage and he was also seen using a walking stick at a Berlin gallery launch.
He says his fondness for two specific food types have put him in peril, even claiming to The Guardian’s Saturday Magazine that he was “healthier on heroin”. So what are they?
Cheese and sugar
Pete told the Guardian added: “It’s not a joke, I’ve been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. And at the moment I’m lacking the discipline to tackle cholesterol.”
Living in France and having cheese as his vice has not been helping either. He explained: “I like Comté [a type of French cheese], Comté on toast. My guilty pleasure is sleeping.”
Pete managed to ditch heroin but despite this, he also told Louis Theroux he was a “very sick man” and “death is lurking”. Speaking to the documentary maker, he added: “You are looking at a very sick man. I’ve battered it, haven’t I, I’ve f***ing caned it. The heroin and the crack… I surrendered to that, and then it was cocaine and the smoking and the alcohol, and now it’s cheese and the saucisson, and the sugar in the tea.”
The Babyshambles performer continued: “It’s all gotta go. They told me a little while ago if you don’t change your diet then you’re gonna have diabetes and cholesterol problems. Death’s lurking, you know what I mean? That’s why I carry that stick.”
The two food types are considered bad for people with diabetes as they can both significantly raise blood sugar levels.
Sugar causes this directly due to its high carbohydrate content while cheese, especially high-fat varieties, can contribute to blood sugar spikes by causing a rapid insulin response.
Diabetes symptoms
There are many damaging consequences of diabetes including blindness, organ failure, heart disease and as Pete mentioned, amputation.
And one man who knows this all too well is Welsh man Glen Paterson who has diabetes and had to sacrifice his leg to stay alive. Like Pete, he has type 2 diabetes, something which can reduce the blood supply to your feet, meaning you may not notice any injuries because the lack of blood can damage nerves and cause loss of feeling.
This can lead to infections and amputations. Glen told the BBC: “To have to sit down and think – do I have my life taken or do I save it? Do I lose a limb to save my life?”
He recovered from his amputation at University Hospital of Wales and one ward manager of the vascular unit, Rhiannon Joseph, revealed doctors sometimes carried out up to seven amputations a week for diabetic patients.
She warned: “We’re seeing a lot of patients coming through that are leaving it too late. I think there will come a point when the system becomes overloaded, without a doubt.”
The medical expert added: “If you’ve come into hospital because your toe has gone a funny colour and you’ve got an infection and suddenly we’re telling you your leg has to be amputated… that’s life-changing and it can have a huge impact on patients.”
According to Dr Keith Reed, half of people with type 2 diabetes “could potentially not have diabetes if they had behaved differently, if the environment had been different or if they had followed a different path”.