GUY’S GOTTA TALK ABOUT…DIABETES #10: Can I REALLY Get Rid of Diabetes By Losing Weight and EATING Right?

For the first times since I started this column eleven years ago, it’s going to be about me. I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes two weeks ago. While people are happy to talk about their experiences with diabetes, I WASN’T comfortable with talking about diabetes. My wife is Type 2, as are several friends of ours. The “other Type” of diabetes was what caused the death of my Best Man a year after my wife and I got married. He was diagnosed with diabetes when he was a kid. It was called Juvenile Diabetes then. Today it’s Type 1. Since then, I haven’t WANTED to talk about diabetes at all. But…for my own education and maybe helping someone else, and not one to shut up for any known reason, I’m reopening my blog rather than starting a new one. I MAY take a pause and write about Breast Cancer or Alzheimer’s as medical headlines dictate; but this time I’m going to drag anyone along who wants to join my HIGHLY RELUCTANT journey toward better understanding of my life with Type 2 Diabetes. You’re Welcome to join me!

Simple Answer to the title above is: Nope.

“…there's no cure for type 2 diabetes.”

“However, studies show it's possible for some people to reverse it. Through diet changes and weight loss, you may be able to reach and hold normal blood sugar levels without medication. This DOES NOT MEAN YOU’RE CURED. Type 2 diabetes is an ongoing disease. Even if you're in remission, which means you aren't taking medication and your blood sugar levels stay in a healthy range, there's always a chance that symptoms will return.”

So…how come there’s research going on in the UK (which has medical practices and health care easily comparable to what we have here in the US) with the intent of people reaching remission and not having to use diabetic meds – and that kind of research IS NOT HAPPENING HERE?

The only article I could find published in an American journal had this to say: “There is a plethora of treatment options available for patients with T2DM [aka Type 2 Diabetes], yet less than half achieve treatment goals. Current conventional clinical practices have proven largely unsuccessful in attaining adequate glycemic control and maintaining HbA1c under the recommended standard of 7.0%. Importantly, this is not due to a failure of therapeutic innovation. Over the last 20 years, several novel and promising anti-diabetes medications and technologies have been developed with consistent improvements in glycemic efficacy…metabolic surgical methods…intensive lifestyle modification plans.”

“Despite this, uncontrolled T2DM continues to have [gotten worse]…Given that evidence demonstrates that early glycemic control is paramount to avoiding microvascular complications and disease progression, this standard of care is unacceptable.”

Sorry, folks – it’s not the standard of care; it’s not the availability of programs; it’s not that there ARE no programs.

The problem, folks – is US.

Witness the wild scramble to get hold of Ozempic (semaglutide); Victoza (liraglutide); Rybelsus (semaglutide); Trulicity (dulaglutide); and many, many others – but NOT to control Type 2 Diabetes – stamping their feet and threatening lawsuits in their doctor’s office because at a high enough dosage, these can all MAKE YOU LOSE WEIGHT without that nasty, sweaty “exercise” thing; or that horrible, restrictive “diet” thing; we go right to our usual mode of operation: demanding that the world and whatnot is what we INSIST it to be rather than what it IS.

Drugs used to treat Type 2 Diabetes are the fat American’s answer to popping a pill and eating whatever you want. THERE’S NO EFFORT REQUIRED! We’ve been looking for this Golden Nugget for forever. We want to eat and then take a pill (or a shot) and “watch the pounds melt away”. You all see the ads, they pop up alongside pretty much whatever type of social media you use.

The problem is that it’s an American problem. The British study is pretty clear on how you and I can send Type 2 Diabetes into remission – but the method is full of nasty words: “diet change”, “weight loss”, “low calorie”, “restricted diet”, “more physical activity”, “bariatric surgery” – I mean, these all involve me DOING SOMETHING that’s not stuffing my face with donuts, candy, bread, cereal, whole milk, cream cheese puffs, potato chips, super-hyper-monstrous Burgers and sixteen orders of fries with melted cheese and ranch dip…

“Several studies in England have looked at the effects of a very low-calorie diet on overweight people with diabetes. Two had people follow a mostly liquid diet of 625-850 calories a day for 2-5 months, followed by a less restricted diet designed to help them keep off the weight they lost. Both studies found that nearly half the people who took part reversed their diabetes and kept their blood glucose near the normal range for at least 6 months to a year.”

The saddest sentence in the two articles came from the American study: “Despite evolution in treatment options and improved understanding of pathophysiology, the treatment of type 2 diabetes remains unsatisfactory.” And folks, it’s not the METHODS that aren’t working – it’s US who aren’t working.

Americans have come to expect “instant answers” and have a “one shot cures it all!” attitude. The pandemic only served to reinforce this attitude. While 6,900,000 people died, the world has pretty much decided that with vaccines, COVID-19 is done and we can go back to normal life.

It’s my opinion that Type 2 Diabetes hasn’t reached that point yet, but most people who suffer from it are waiting patiently for the “one shot cures it all!” – and many have decided that the drugs used by patients who actually have been diagnosed with Type 2 HAVE to be used so those who love to overeat can CONTINUE to overeat with impunity – just take a shot a week and BAM! Back to the troughs!

Jaundiced POV? Nah, jaundice is a DIFFERENT disease.

Source: UK: https://www.webmd.com/diabetes/can-you-reverse-type-2-diabetes#:~:text=Although%20there's%20no%20cure%20for,diabetes%20is%20an%20ongoing%20disease. ; US: https://www.mdpi.com/2673-4540/4/1/11
Image: https://www.hcd.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/living-well-with-diabetes.jpg