In a recent study from the University of Cambridge, researchers found that people who achieve a weight loss of 10% or more in the first five years following diagnosis with type 2 diabetes have the greatest chance of seeing their disease go into remission.
The findings suggest that it is possible to recover from the disease without intensive lifestyle interventions or extreme calorie restrictions.
Type 2 diabetes affects 400 million people worldwide and increases the risk of heart disease, stroke, blindness and amputations.
While the disease can be managed through a combination of positive lifestyle changes and medication, it is also possible for the high blood glucose levels that define diabetes to return to normal — through significant calorie restriction and weight loss.
An intensive low-calorie diet involving a total daily intake of 700 calories (less than one cheeseburger) for 8 weeks has been linked to remission in almost 9 out of 19 people with recently diagnosed diabetes and in half of the people with longstanding disease.
However, there is little evidence to show whether the same effect can be achieved by people undergoing less intensive interventions, which are more feasible and potentially scalable to the wider population.
In the study, the team used data of 867 people with newly diagnosed diabetes aged 40 and 69 years recruited from general practices.
They found that 257 participants (30%) participants were in remission at a five-year follow-up.
People who achieved a weight loss of 10% or more within the first 5 years after diagnosis were more than twice as likely to go into remission compared to people who maintained the same weight.
The results suggest that it may be possible to get rid of diabetes, for at least five years, with a more modest weight loss of 10%. This will be more motivating and hence more achievable for many people.
The team says the study reinforces the importance of managing one’s weight, which can be achieved through changes in diet and increasing physical activity.
Type 2 diabetes, while a chronic disease, can lead to significant complications, but as this study shows, can be controlled and even reversed.
If you care about diabetes, please read studies about this eating habit may help prevent type 2 diabetes and findings of new procedure may treat type 2 diabetes, obesity.
For more information about diabetes treatment and prevention, please see recent studies about this sleep problem linked to blinding eye disease in people with diabetes and results showing that this diet may help treat neuropathy in diabetes.
The study is published in Diabetic Medicine. One author of the study is Dr Hajira Dambha-Miller.
Copyright © 2021 Knowridge Science Report. All rights reserved.
