Type 2 diabetes can be reversed, say Canadian researchers
Adult and Type 2 diabetes has long been considered a lifelong chronic disease, but Canadian researchers believe that they may have found a way to actually reverse the disease by handing.
The research team, from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, says that an aggressive combination of a low-calorie diet, a consistent exercise, 39, adding several diabetes medications appears to have reversed the disease in some patients.
Type 2 diabetes is diagnosed when the pancreas of an individual is no longer able to produce enough insulin - the hormone that allows the cells to absorb glucose in the blood. As a result, blood glucose accumulates and the cells do not get the energy they need.
To verify whether the condition can be reversed, researchers first studied 83 patients with type 2 diabetes and divided them into three groups.
Two of the groups received an intensive "metabolic intervention" in which they received a personalized exercise plan and a meal plan that reduced their daily calorie intake from 500 to 750 calories per day.
They also received oral diabetes medications to manage their blood sugar levels closely, as well as insulin injections at bedtime to give their pancreas rest to allow it to recover and work normally again.
One group underwent the program for eight weeks, while the other was treated intensively for sixteen weeks. They were then compared to a third, a control group, who received standard blood sugar management advice and advice on the lifestyle of their regular health care provider.
Three months later, 11 of the 27 participants in the 16-week program group met the criteria for complete or partial remission of diabetes. Those in the eight week program did not go well too; Only six of the 28 participants in this group met the same criteria. But they are even better than the third group: of these 28 participants, only four managed to get their diabetes back.
John Almeida, aged fifty, was diagnosed almost three years ago with type 2 diabetes and said it would be lifetime drug. During the intensive program, he lost 13 pounds and dramatically increased his level of exercise. A month ago, the researchers told him that he could get out of the study drugs.
A month later, the blood tests confirm that he is in remission ... with his pancreas doing all his work.
"No pills, no insulin ... right now if I feel I do not have diabetes," he said with a smile.
The lead researcher of the study, Dr. Hertzel Gerstein, an endocrinologist at Hamilton Health Sciences, says the purpose of the intensive diet is to prevent patients from taking medication.
"I think doctors, this is much more preferable than taking medicines for years and years and years," he said.
After their initial success, the research team has now expanded its study to include about 450 patients in eight Canadian cities, to see how long remission can last and to determine at which stage of the disease patients respond best .
Dr. Gerstein is convinced that his team is on something with this approach.
"There is smoke here that we must continue and that is the exciting part of it," he said.
The next phase of their study is expected to be complete in 2018.
With a report from medical specialist CTV Avis Favaro and producer Elizabeth St. Philip
HEALTH COACH -
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