Weight Loss Could Send Diabetes Into Remission, Scientists Find

Weight loss could send diabetes into remission, scientists find

Weight loss might be more effective in achieving remission for Type 2 diabetes than traditional medical treatments, scientists have found. A new paper published in the medical journal The Lancet chronicles a three-year study of patients suffering from Type 2 diabetes, the version of the disease that manifests in adulthood, and found that 86 percent of participants who lost a certain amount of weight achieved remission from the disease, BBC reports.
Specifically, that 86 percent of patients came from the pool of study participants who lost 33 or more pounds. By comparison, just 4 percent of patients who used traditional treatment methods achieved remission, BBC reports. In total, nearly half of all participants who used a weight-loss treatment plan saw their diabetes enter remission.
The weight loss treatment required participants to stop taking medication and instead eat low-calorie liquid meals for three to five months, after which they would go on a diet approved by a dietician. Weight loss reduces fat buildup around the pancreas, the organ that regulates blood glucose levels, which the researchers found allowed diabetics to produce more insulin, thus lowering their blood sugar levels.
Patients who lost large amounts of weight had the highest rates of remission — the 86 percent mentioned above — but 34 percent of participants who lost between 11 and 22 pounds also achieved remission, as well as more than half of the patients who lost between 22 and 33 pounds. Doctors did warn, however, that the disease could return if patients do not manage their weight. Read the full Continue reading

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NHS starts diabetes 'stem cell factory'

The NHS is setting up a stem cell factory in Liverpool to treat people with diabetes.
NHS Blood and Transplant wants to make and give the experimental therapy to patients at high risk of developing diabetes-related kidney problems.
It is hoped the injections will slow down or stop tissue damage, removing the need for dialysis or transplants.
Diabetes is the most common cause of end stage kidney disease, which kills around 40,000 people a year in the UK.
The 48 patients taking part in the study will be treated at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust and Belfast Health and Social Care Trust or at another trial site in Italy.
The injection of cells they will receive are called stromal cells and they are grown from donated human bone marrow.
These immature cells can grow and change into a variety of tissue - bone, cartilage and fat. But it is their ability to release proteins that reduce inflammation in the kidney which interests the researchers.
In animal studies, stromal cell injections have provided measurable improvements in kidney function and it is hoped they will do the same in people.
Only some of the patients in the study will get the real jab (at different doses). The others will get a dummy injection. This will let the investigators check whether the treatment really works and if it has any side effects.
Project leader Prof Timothy O'Brien, from the National University of Ireland, Galway, said: "Diabetic kidney disease is very common so any therapy that could slow the progression of this disease would have a significant impact."
About three in four pe Continue reading

Walking for a diabetes cure: Eleven-year-old reaches Gorge in record-setting walk across the U.S.

NOAH Barnes, 11, and his father Robert, started their 311th day on the road near Maryhill Winery Thursday and planned to make at least 17 miles that day along Washington State Route 14. They decided to travel the Washington side of the Columbia River because there would be less traffic than Interstate 84.
Noah Barnes, 11, has burned through more shoes than other kids his age this year — he’s on his 11th pair — but then, none of his peers are about to become the youngest person on record to walk across America.
On Thursday, Barnes and his father, Robert, could be seen along Washington State Route 14 near Wishram, the 311th day of their more than 4,200-mile journey.
They took a short break to talk with a Chronicle reporter about the expedition that began in Key West, Fla., in early January and ends Dec. 9 in Blaine, Wash.
Rob Denning from Immense Imagery captured video footage of the interview, which will be posted on the businesses’ Facebook page, as well as the Chronicle website, www.thedalleschronicle.com.
When the long trek is finished, Noah will have walked from the farthest southeastern point of the United States to its farthest northeastern point, yet another record.
“Less than 300 people have crossed the U.S. on foot since they started tracking these journeys,” said Robert.
Setting a new record isn’t what drives Noah to get up every day and walk 17 to 22 miles or more. He was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when he was 16 months old and has lived with insulin shots most of his life.
He longs for the day that needles and testing his blood sugar level multi Continue reading

2017 National Standards for Diabetes Self-Management Education and Support

By the most recent estimates, 30.3 million people in the U.S. have diabetes. An estimated 23.1 million have been diagnosed with diabetes and 7.2 million are believed to be living with undiagnosed diabetes. At the same time, 84.1 million people are at increased risk for type 2 diabetes. Thus, more than 114 million Americans are at risk for developing the devastating complications of diabetes (1).
Diabetes self-management education and support (DSMES) is a critical element of care for all people with diabetes. DSMES is the ongoing process of facilitating the knowledge, skills, and ability necessary for diabetes self-care, as well as activities that assist a person in implementing and sustaining the behaviors needed to manage his or her condition on an ongoing basis, beyond or outside of formal self-management training. In previous National Standards for Diabetes Self-Management Education and Support (Standards), DSMS and DSME were defined separately, but these Standards aim to reflect the value of ongoing support and multiple services.
The Standards define timely, evidence-based, quality DSMES services that meet or exceed the Medicare diabetes self-management training (DSMT) regulations, however, these Standards do not guarantee reimbursement. These Standards provide evidence for all diabetes self-management education providers including those that do not plan to seek reimbursement for DSMES. The current Standards’ evidence clearly identifies the need to provide person-centered services that embrace the ever-increasing technological engagement platforms and systems. The hop Continue reading

Diabetes Remission Possible With Significant Weight Loss: DiRECT

Individuals with type 2 diabetes who lose a significant amount of weight through a strict dietary intervention can send their diabetes into remission, according to the results of a new study.
Nearly half of individuals who adhered to the primary care-led program for weight management no longer had type 2 diabetes at 12 months, with remission rates even higher among those who lost more weight. Among individuals who lost 15 kg or more, for example, 86% had a remission of their diabetes.
“People with type 2 diabetes can get rid of it if they’re serious enough, but they need ongoing support and buy-in from their families if they’re going to keep the weight off and keep diabetes away long-term,” senior investigator Roy Taylor, MD (Newcastle University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England), told TCTMD. “The important thing is that physicians can relearn about type 2 diabetes and explain to people that it’s possible for them to get out of it. They don’t need to live with this threat to their eyes, their feet, their nerves.”
In an editorial, Matti Uusitupa, MD (University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio), calls the study findings “impressive,” saying they “strongly support the view that type 2 diabetes is tightly associated with excessive fat mass in the body.” These results, along with other studies of type 2 diabetes prevention, Uusitupa adds, “indicate that weight loss should be the primary goal” of treatment.
Darren McGuire, MD (UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX), who was not involved in the study, said the findings were “quite striking,” particular Continue reading