Get off your backside! It's madness for the NHS to spend millions fighting type 2 diabetes when the simple cure is exercise, says DR MICHAEL MOSLEY, who reversed HIS own diabetes
When my father was in his 60s, he was told that he had type 2 diabetes. We didn’t know it at the time, but it would contribute to his premature death.
Diabetes can cause multiple complications and, at the relatively young age of 74, my father died, suffering from prostate cancer, heart disease and what I now suspect was early dementia.
So when I went for a routine blood test five years ago, aged 55, and discovered that my blood sugar was in the diabetic range, I was shocked and worried.
The accepted wisdom is that type 2 is incurable. My doctor told me I should start on medication.
I did not accept it. Instead, I came across research pointing to the importance of weight loss in controlling and possibly reversing diabetes. I lost 19 lb in 12 weeks, and my blood sugar and cholesterol levels returned to normal — where they have stayed since.
With the help of science and some self-discipline, I sorted myself out. And there is nothing unusual about that: knowing what to do and then doing it is the way to better health.
Last week, Professor Sir Muir Gray, one of Britain’s most eminent doctors, said that he didn’t consider type 2 diabetes to be a ‘real disease’. As reported in the Mail, he told a shocked audience at Oxford Literary Festival that it was a reversible illness caused by the ‘modern environment’ and our sedentary lifestyles.
He said it ought to be known as ‘walking deficiency syndrome’.
It is a controversial view and while it is certainly alarming that, according to new NHS figures, one in four people fail to manage to take even 30 minutes exercise
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