Simple Diabetes Treatment Losing weight can normalize insulin levels

One gram of pancreatic fat more can trigger diabetes
Losing weight can cause the human pancreas to reverse type 2 diabetes, claims a British study. Scientists at Newcastle University have found that people with type 2 diabetes have an elevated level of pancreatic fat. The loss of only one gram of fat in the pancreas could cause the insulin level of the person to recover, the researchers said in a statement.
The researchers studied 18 obese people with type 2 diabetes and nine people without diabetes. After a surgical procedure, overweight people underwent a restricted diet for a period of eight weeks. During this time, patients were asked to limit the calorie intake to 1200 kcal per day, which is about half the recommended levels.

Losing weight can cure diabetes. Image: Syda Productions - fotolia

Researchers found that after losing 0.6 grams of pancreatic fat, subjects reported that their insulin secretion had increased to a normal level. The danger level for fat in the pancreas varies from person to person, said the physicians. So a slim person could well develop diabetes, although in an overweight person, the disease does not occur, the researchers added. The results of the study were published in the journal Diabetes Care.

Diabetes is widespread
About 90 percent of all diabetes cases in the UK relate to type 2 diabetes. The number of those affected (59.8 percent) has been rising steadily in recent years. Compared to ten years ago, today 1.2 million adults are additionally ill. The trend will probably continue, said the researchers from the University of Newcastle. Traditionally, diabetes is a condition that affects old people and middle-aged people. But over the past 15 years, more and more cases of diabetes have been reported in children. The latest known case would involve a three-year-old girl, the scientists warned.

Study highlights relationship between diet and diabetes
Normally, type 2 diabetes is a progressive disease that is first controlled by special diets and tablets. Later, however, insulin injections will eventually be needed. Professor Naveed Sattar of the University of Glasgow said on the subject that the study had shown that weight gain could trigger diabetes. But people who lose enough weight, it is even possible to conquer their diabetes and thus get along without insulin injections. These results clearly underline the relationship between diabetes and diet. To lose one gram of body fat does not really sound like much. But you'd have to lose a few grams of body weight to lose that little amount of fat in the pancreas, Dr. Alasdair Rankin of "Diabetes UK". (As)