Is Type 2 Diabetes Reversible?

Although doctors have long believed that Type 2 diabetes is a lifelong condition, research shows that it can be reversed -- and that with work to maintain weight loss, former patients can live without medication. Learn more in this episode of BrainStuff.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to brain Stuff from How Stuff Works, Hey, brain Stuff,
Lauren Vogel bomb here. If you've been diagnosed with diabetes,
no doubt you've been told to change your eating habits
more veggies, fewer sweets, and to get more exercise. These
actions were thought to control your diabetes, but not to
reverse it, but a paper published in the b m

(00:22):
J says the type two diabetes is indeed reversible for
many patients who lose around fifteen kilograms or thirty three pounds.
Diabetes is a chronic condition that has been rising rapidly
throughout the world. It affected eight point five percent of
the world's population, about four hundred and twenty two million people,
up from four point seven percent in the most common

(00:44):
form of diabetes is type two diabetes, also known as
adult onset diabetes. It occurs when the body doesn't effectively
use the insulin it produces. Insulin being the hormone that
regulates blood sugar. If your blood sugar level is too
high and is not treated, it can lead to severe
problems like blindness, stroke, kidney failure, and foot amputations. Type

(01:05):
two diabetes is almost always directly tied to physical inactivity
and extra body weight. We spoke with paper co author
ROYD Taylor, Professor of Medicine and Metabolism at Newcastle University,
via email. The belief amongst doctors and scientists is that
type two diabetes is irreversible, always get steadily worse, demanding
more and more drugs than insulin. Patient groups advised that

(01:28):
the first step for someone newly diagnosed is to get
used to the idea of dealing with a lifelong illness.
His research is the latest chapter in year's worth of
investigation about type two diabetes. In two thousand and six,
he noticed that liver function tests done in patients were
usually abnormal or on the high side. Then he saw
research that patients who had undergone bariatric surgery enjoyed normal

(01:49):
fasting glucose levels within one week of the operation. He said,
although it became widely believed that this was an effect
of special hormones produced by the gut, it was clear
to me that it simply be the sharp decrease in
food intake. I published a hypothesis, the twin cycle hypothesis,
suggesting how everything might be explained by too much fat
in the liver and pancreas. Then set about testing that hypothesis.

(02:14):
His hunch was proved inn and after that the group
conducted a larger study to find out if those benefits
continued long term. The scientists were pleased to discover that
remission does stay constant after a return to normal eating,
provided that these subjects maintain a steady weight. Unfortunately, a
lot of patients and doctors haven't cluded into this finding
that diabetes can go into remission. The b MJ paper

(02:36):
was actually written to draw more attention to the reversibility
of the condition and to incentivize everyone to strive for remission.
Taylor said remission is a great advantage to people with
type two diabetes. Although many are content to continue taking
the tablets or insulin and risk loss of eyesight, feet, etcetera,
there are large numbers desperate to escape from type two diabetes.

(02:59):
The author's call for to record patients who have gone
into remission, Taylor said, in the UK National Health Service
there is a special coding category to describe diabetes in remission.
It allows physicians to still be paid, ex sufferers to
not have to call themselves diabetic, and annual checks to
be done to help motivation to keep weight steady to
achieve remission diabetes type two patients must get their hemoglobin

(03:22):
A one c blood level to normal levels for one
year without assistance from diabetes medication. On its website, the
American Diabetes Association notes that it's very rare for patients
diabetes to go into remission unless they've had bariatric surgery. However,
the European diabetes forum diabetes dot co dot uk is
more up beat, stating that low carb diets like the

(03:44):
Mediterranean diet and commitment to exercise, as well as bariatric
surgery have all helped some people with diabetes to achieve remission.
If you or someone you know is living with type
two diabetes, consider talking to a doctor about steps to
take toward remission. Today's episode was written by Alia Hoyt

(04:05):
and produced by Tyler Clang. For more on this and
lots of other healthy topics, visit our home planet, how
Stuff Works dot com