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Investigating weight reduction can often cure type 2 diabetes
Type 2 diabetes is a disease that affects millions of people worldwide. Researchers now find that type 2 diabetes is curable in many cases. The disease can often be reversed by those affected simply lose weight, the scientists report.
Researchers at the University of Glasgow, Scotland, found in their study that in many cases, type 2 diabetes can be reversed when the patients lose about 15 kilograms of weight. The experts published the results of their current analysis in the medical journal British Medical Journal (BMJ).
Type 2 diabetes can apparently be reversed without medication. All those affected have to do is lose about 15 kilograms of weight and then pay attention to a healthy body weight. (Image: zlikovec / fotolia.com) People with type 2 diabetes suffer permanently from the disease?
In Germany, there are many people who live with type 2 diabetes. A widespread opinion about the disease is that the diagnosis of type 2 diabetes is irreversible and thus permanent. However, according to the current analysis, the disease seems quite curable when the sufferers lose weight.
A healthy body weight would save huge amounts of money
If more people with type 2 diabetes try to reverse their condition by weight loss and more doctors document this remission of diabetes, it could drastically reduce the sickness rate and the associated treatment costs, the researchers explain.
Weight loss has a positive effect on the blood sugar level
The analysis is based on evidence from various recent clinical studies. For example, one of these studies in 2011 found that when patients (who have recently been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes) lose enough weight, they can normalize their blood sugar levels. In a follow-up in 2016, Newcastle University researchers said in a press release that diabetics can reverse their condition for a period of up to ten years as they lose approximately 15 kilograms (33 pounds) of weight.
Medications or injections for treatment should only be an emergency solution
The likelihood of remission of diabetes is greatest in the first five years after diagnosis, explains author Professor Mike Lean of the University of Glasgow. Type 2 diabetes is a disease that can best be avoided if people pay attention to healthy body weight and do not develop obesity. According to the expert, if people develop type 2 diabetes, evidence-based weight loss programs can help them achieve long-term remission. At the same time, those affected should be sufficiently supported. Taking pills or injections for the rest of your life is just a bad alternative, the researchers add.
Affected persons must be better supported
Current guidelines for dealing with type 2 diabetes include reducing blood sugar levels and reducing the risks of heart disease, especially with medications and advice on diet and exercise. But many sufferers do not seriously try to lose weight. One reason for this could be that these people are not aware of the inverse effect of weight loss, the authors speculate. Many physicians are also unaware of this effect, which is why patients often do not get the right advice and encouragement to lose weight. The first results from a large, ongoing study on the effectiveness of such a program are expected in 2018.
Patients with type 2 diabetes should urgently try to lose weight
People with type 2 diabetes should try to lose weight by any available safe method and then maintain a healthy body weight. Those affected should also start asking for support for sustainable weight loss, say the scientists. However, the patients themselves have to make the biggest long-term changes. (As)