Type 2 diabetes is typically caused by lifestyle factors. In very simplistic terms, it could be said that these people eat their way into this disease. Majority of patients of Type 2 diabetes are severely overweight, many of them being obese. And now scientists from Glasgow University have proofs that you can reverse the condition the same way that you got it.
Losing weight will help getting rid of the fat clogging up the pancreas, which could reverse the symptoms of the Type 2 diabetes. Image credit: Petr Kratochvil via Wikimedia
Scientists managed to prove that fat over-spills from the liver into the pancreas triggers the development of the Type 2 diabetes. When you are just getting fat, your body is storing it under the skin as a source of energy for those time when food might be scarce. In natural setting it is a good thing. Our ancestors would hunt, eat the meat and then they wouldn't have what to eat until the next successful hunting trip. However, now we always have food available and the fat that is stored is usually here to stay. Once too much fat is stored under the skin, body starts putting it in places where it doesn’t belong, like liver and, eventually pancreas, which disturbs insulin production and triggers the onset of the Type 2 diabetes.
Participants of this study managed to lose a significant amount of weight. In fact, so significant that fat retreated from vital organs too and they successfully reversed the condition of Type 2 diabetes. Not only that, but the majority remained non-diabetic for the rest of the two year study and those who regained the diagnosis also regained the weight. Professors Roy Taylor, one of the leaders of the research, said: “This means we can now see Type 2 diabetes as a simple condition where the individual has accumulated more fat than they can cope with. Importantly this means that through diet and persistence, patients are able to lose the fat and potentially reverse their diabetes”.
Over a million deaths every year are caused by diabetes. Knowledge that dieting and exercising can reverse this chronic condition provides hope for millions affected by this disease. Of course, as you might imagine, losing weight is not going to help everyone. Also, after the condition is reversed, patients have to maintain a healthy lifestyle, which is easier said than done in many cases.
Fat simply logs up the pancreas, disturbing insulin production and messing up the glucose levels in the blood. However, this is only true about the Type 2 diabetes, because Type 1 is caused by genetic reasons and, as far as we know now, is not preventable.
Scientists are now working on nailing down individual thresholds of fat storage and how much weight has to be lost in order to reverse the condition. This has to be done in order to formulate recommendations that would be easy-enough to follow for Type 2 diabetes patients.
Source: Glasgow University