Shedding 15 kilos may reverse diabetes

Turns out, shedding those extra 15 kilos may reverse the condition of type-2 diabetes in people.

Louise McCombie, along with the University of Glasgow researchers, stated that the type-2 diabetes can be reversed and called for greater awareness, documentation and surveillance of remissions to improve health outcomes and reduce healthcare costs.

The diagnosis also carries important social and financial penalties for individuals, as well as poor health prospects.

They explained that weight loss is associated with extended life expectancy for people with diabetes and that weight loss of around 15 kg often produces total remission of type 2 diabetes.

Achieving remission not only has health benefits, but also produces a strong sense of personal achievement and empowerment, removes stigma, and may even reduce insurance premiums.

A U.S. study found remissions in only 0.14 percent of 1,20,000 patients followed for seven years, while the Scottish Care Information Diabetes database, which includes every patient in Scotland, shows that less than 0.1 percent of those with type 2 diabetes were coded as being in remission.

They suggested that lack of agreed criteria and guidance over recoding may have led to hesitation in coding remission, but the main reason for the low recording is probably that few patients are attempting or achieving remission.

"It is in everybody's interest to reclassify people with Type-2 diabetes when they become non-diabetic," said the authors.

They concluded that an appropriate coding will make it possible to monitor progress in achieving remission of Type-2 diabetes nationally and internationally and to improve predictions of long term health outcomes for patients with a known duration of remission.

The research is published in British Medical Journal. 

-ANI