A research report published in British Medical Journal has raised hopes of people suffering from Type 2 diabetes. The disease is reversible and can be beaten in remission, a University of Glasgow study has revealed. All a patient needs to do is shed around 15kg.
The revelation has broken the generally accepted myth that type 2 diabetes, though controllable, is incurable.
There are close to 500 drugs worldwide which are currently licensed to treat type 2 diabetes by lowering blood glucose levels but they are not treating the disease process and are missing the point, said Professor Mike Lean, from Glasgow University’s Human Nutrition Section.
“Not only is type 2 diabetes preventable by not getting fat in the first place, but as long as you get in early after the disease is established – in the first five years or so – you have a better than even chance of becoming non-diabetic,” he added.
Multiple records across the world, however, have shown very low remission ratio, in tunes of less than one percent. According to the research report, the reason behind this is that few patients are attempting or achieving remission.
“Patients and doctors may be unaware that type 2 diabetes can be reversed, despite the recent publicity,” said the report.
“It is in everybody’s interest to reclassify people with type 2 diabetes when they become non-diabetic. Official guidelines and international consensus for recording diabetes in remission are needed.”
The research argued that remission not only has health benefits but it produces a strong sense of personal achievement and empowerment.
According to a WHO report, Diabetes alone would lead to health care costs $2.2 trillion for India between 2012 and 2030.
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