This Extreme Diet Reversed Type 2 Diabetes In Up To 86% Of Patients

This Extreme Diet Reversed Type 2 Diabetes in Up to 86% of Patients

Type 2 diabetes isn't necessarily for life, with a new clinical trial providing some of the clearest evidence yet that the condition can be reversed, even in patients who have carried the disease for several years.
A clinical trial involving almost 300 people in the UK found an intensive weight management program put type 2 diabetes into remission for 86 percent of patients who lost 15 kilograms (33 lbs) or more.
"These findings are very exciting," says diabetes researcher Roy Taylor from Newcastle University.
"They could revolutionise the way type 2 diabetes is treated."
Taylor and fellow researchers studied 298 adults aged 20-65 years who had been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes within the previous six years to take part in the Diabetes Remission Clinical Trial (DiRECT).
Participants were randomly assigned to either an intensive weight management program or to regular diabetic care administered by their GP, acting as a control group.
For the 149 individuals placed in the weight management program, participants had to restrict themselves to a low calorie formula diet consisting of things like health shakes and soups, limiting them to consuming 825-853 calories per day for a period of three to five months.
After this, food was reintroduced to their diet slowly over two to eight weeks, and participants were given support to maintain their weight loss, including cognitive behavioural therapy and help with how to increase their level of physical activity.
Not an easy lifestyle change to adapt to, perhaps; but where there's a will, there's a way.
"We've found that people were re Continue reading

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Diabetes App Forecasts Blood Sugar Levels

New York, NY (April 27, 2017)—Columbia University researchers have developed a personalized algorithm that predicts the impact of particular foods on an individual’s blood sugar levels. The algorithm has been integrated into an app, Glucoracle, that will allow individuals with type 2 diabetes to keep a tighter rein on their glucose levels—the key to preventing or controlling the major complications of a disease that affects 8 percent of Americans.
The findings were published online today in PLoS Computational Biology.
Medications are often prescribed to help patients with type 2 diabetes manage their blood sugar levels, but exercise and diet also play an important role.
“While we know the general effect of different types of food on blood glucose, the detailed effects can vary widely from one person to another and for the same person over time,” said lead author David Albers, PhD, associate research scientist in biomedical informatics at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC). “Even with expert guidance, it’s difficult for people to understand the true impact of their dietary choices, particularly on a meal-to-meal basis. Our algorithm, integrated into an easy-to-use app, predicts the consequences of eating a specific meal before the food is eaten, allowing individuals to make better nutritional choices during mealtime.”
The algorithm uses a technique called data assimilation, in which a mathematical model of a person’s response to glucose is regularly updated with observational data—blood sugar measurements and nutritional information—to improve th Continue reading

World Diabetes Day 2017

Women and diabetes: Our right to a healthy future
On World Diabetes Day 2017, WHO joins partners around the world to highlight women’s right to a healthy future. Around 8% of women – or 205 million women – live with diabetes worldwide, over half in South-East Asia and the Western Pacific. During pregnancy high blood glucose substantially increases the risk to health for both mother and child as well as the risk of diabetes for the child in the future. Almost half of women who die in low-income countries due to high blood glucose die prematurely, before the age of 70 years.
Diabetes is a major cause of blindness, kidney failure, heart attack, stroke and lower limb amputation. Healthy diet, physical activity and avoiding tobacco use can prevent or delay type 2 diabetes. In addition diabetes can be treated and its consequences avoided or delayed with medication, regular screening and treatment for complications. Ensuring such actions form part of the recommendations of WHO’s Global report on diabetes launched in 2016.
Established in 1991 by the International Diabetes Federation with support from WHO in response to growing concerns about the escalating health threat posed by diabetes, World Diabetes Day became an official UN day in 2006. The World Diabetes Day 2017 campaign promotes affordable and equitable access for all women with diabetes or at risk of diabetes to the essential medicines and technologies, self-management education and information they require to achieve optimal diabetes outcomes and strengthen their capacity to prevent type 2 diabetes. Continue reading

Diabetes and abnormal sweating: What is the connection?

Many people with diabetes will experience times when they sweat too much, too little, or at odd times.
Diabetes-related nervous system damage and low blood sugars cause these commonly experienced sweating conditions in people with diabetes.
Sweating complications can be a sign of poor diabetes management. Maintaining healthy blood sugar levels is crucial to both prevention and treatment.
Contents of this article:
Diabetes and sweating problems
People sweat for a variety of reasons. Some of these reasons are normal and some are not.
Sweating is a natural response to physical and emotional stress. But excessive sweating, when the reason is unclear, is often a sign that something is not right. Some people with sweating conditions will sweat even on a cold day or during minimal activity.
Low blood sugar levels and diabetes-related nervous system damage cause the most commonly experienced sweating conditions in people with diabetes.
Extremely low blood sugars cause a fight-or-flight response, triggering the release of hormones that increase sweating.
When blood sugar levels are too high for too long, a loss of nerve function can occur. This condition is known as diabetic neuropathy. The American Diabetes Association (ADA) claim that around half of people with diabetes experience some form of neuropathy.
If the nerves that control the sweat glands are damaged, they may send the wrong message to sweat glands, or none at all. In most cases, neuropathies cause either excessive sweating or an inability to sweat.
Sweating caused by hypoglycemia
Hypoglycemia is a term to describe abnor Continue reading

Red wine 'benefits people with type 2 diabetes'

A glass of red wine a day can improve cardiac health and help manage cholesterol for patients with type 2 diabetes, according to findings in a 2-year study published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine.
Moderate alcohol consumption has been linked to improved cardiovascular and total mortality rates, and a glass of red wine a day as part of a healthy diet has been considered beneficial for some time.
There is evidence that type 2 diabetes is less prevalent among moderate drinkers, yet the risk-benefit balance is controversial for such patients, due to a lack of long-term randomized studies.
Researchers from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev-Soroka Medical Center and Nuclear Research Center Negev, Israel, wondered if both red and white wine might improve glucose control, depending on alcohol metabolism and genetic profiling.
Previous research has suggested that ethanol (alcohol) is the key, meaning that alcoholic drinks other than red wine could be equally beneficial; others claim that red wine has particularly advantageous properties.
Potential benefits for people with type 2 diabetes
People with diabetes have a higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease, as well as lower levels of "good" HDL cholesterol. High levels of HDL cholesterol can reduce the risk for heart disease and stroke, as it absorbs cholesterol and carries it back to the liver, where it is flushed from the body.
29.1 million people in the US probably have diabetes, or 9.3% of the population
21 million have been diagnosed
An estimated further 8.1 million have not been diagnosed.
Should patients Continue reading