Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff production of iHeart Radio. Hey brain
Speaker 1: Stuff Lauren voge bom here with another episode from the
Speaker 1: archives owhen presented with a diagnosis like type two diabetes,
Speaker 1: it can be easy to spiral into thinking that you'll
Speaker 1: need insulin forever. But with lifestyle changes, that doesn't have
Speaker 1: to be the case. I'll let former Lauren explain, Hey
Speaker 1: brain Stuff, Lauren vogel bam here. If you've been diagnosed
Speaker 1: with diabetes, no doubt you've been told to change your
Speaker 1: eating habits more veggies, fewer sweets, and to get more exercise.
Speaker 1: These actions were thought to control your diabetes, but not
Speaker 1: to reverse it, but a paper published in the b
Speaker 1: m J says the type two diabetes is indeed reversible
Speaker 1: for many patients who lose around fifteen ms or thirty
Speaker 1: three pounds. Diabetes is a chronic condition that has been
Speaker 1: rising rapidly throughout the world. It affected eight point five
Speaker 1: percent of the world's population, about hundred and twenty two
Speaker 1: million people, up from four point seven percent in the
Speaker 1: most common form of diabetes is type two diabetes, also
Speaker 1: known as adult onset diabetes. It occurs when the body
Speaker 1: doesn't effectively use the insulin it produces insulin, being the
Speaker 1: hormone that regulates blood sugar. If your blood sugar level
Speaker 1: is too high and is not treated, it can lead
Speaker 1: to severe problems like blindness, stroke, kidney failure, and foot amputations.
Speaker 1: Type two diabetes is almost always directly tied to physical
Speaker 1: inactivity and extra body weight. We spoke with paper co
Speaker 1: author Roy Taylor, Professor of medicine and Metabolism at Newcastle University,
Speaker 1: via email. The belief amongst doctors and scientists is that
Speaker 1: type two diabetes is irreversible, always get steadily worse, demanding
Speaker 1: more and more drugs than insulin. Patient groups advised that
Speaker 1: the first step for someone newly diagnosed is to get
Speaker 1: used to the idea of dealing with a lifelong illness.
Speaker 1: His research is the latest chapter in year's worth of
Speaker 1: investigation about type two diabetes. In two thousand and six,
Speaker 1: he noticed that liver function tests done in patients were
Speaker 1: usually abnormal or on the high side. Then he saw
Speaker 1: research that patients who had undergone bariatric surgery enjoyed normal
Speaker 1: fasting glucose levels within one week of the operation. He said,
Speaker 1: although it became widely believed that this was an effect
Speaker 1: of special hormones produced by the gut. It was clear
Speaker 1: to me that it might simply be the sharp decrease
Speaker 1: in food intake. I published a hypothesis, the twin cycle hypothesis,
Speaker 1: suggesting how everything might be explained by too much fat
Speaker 1: in the liver and pancreas, then set about testing that hypothesis.
Speaker 1: His hunch was proved in twenty eleven, and after that
Speaker 1: the group conducted a larger study to find out if
Speaker 1: those benefits continued long term. The scientists were pleased to
Speaker 1: discover that remission does stay constant after a return to
Speaker 1: normal eating, provided that these subjects maintain a steady weight. Unfortunately,
Speaker 1: a lot of patients and doctors haven't clued into this
Speaker 1: finding that diabetes can go into remission. The b m
Speaker 1: J paper was actually written to draw more attention to
Speaker 1: the reversibility of the condition and to incentivize everyone to
Speaker 1: strive for remission. Taylor said remission is a great advantage
Speaker 1: to people with type two diabetes. Although many are content
Speaker 1: to continue taking the tablets or insulin and risk loss
Speaker 1: of eyesight, feet, etcetera, there are large numbers desperate to
Speaker 1: escape from type two diabetes. The authors call for doctors
Speaker 1: to record patients who have gone into remission. Taylor said
Speaker 1: in the UK National Health Service there is a special
Speaker 1: coding category to describe diabetes in remission. It allows physicians
Speaker 1: to still be paid, ex sufferers to not have to
Speaker 1: call themselves diabetic, and annual checks to be done to
Speaker 1: help motivation to keep weight steady. To achieve remission diabetes
Speaker 1: type too, patients must get their hemoglobin a one c
Speaker 1: blood level to normal levels for one year without assistance
Speaker 1: from diabetes medication. On its website, the American Diabetes Association
Speaker 1: notes that it's very rare for patients diabetes to go
Speaker 1: into remission unless they've had bariatric surgery. However, the European
Speaker 1: Diabetes Diabetes dot co dot UK is more up beat,
Speaker 1: stating that low carb diets like the Mediterranean diet and
Speaker 1: commitment to exercise, as well as bariatric surgery have all
Speaker 1: helped some people with diabetes to achieve remission. If you
Speaker 1: or someone you know is living with type two diabetes,
Speaker 1: consider talking to a doctor about steps to take toward remission.
Speaker 1: Today's episode is based on the article type two diabetes
Speaker 1: is reversible after All on how Stuffworks dot com, written
Speaker 1: by Leah Hoyt. The brain Stuff is production of by
Speaker 1: Heart Radio and partnership with how stuff Works dot com,
Speaker 1: and it's produced by Tyler Klang. Or more podcasts my
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