Reversing Type 1 Diabetes

[diabeticdancer]

Are there any case studies on reversing type 1 diabetes? Or are there any stories of people having very long honeymoon periods where they need little or no insulin? My dn said she knew a guy who went through his honeymoon for 2 years.

I am aware there there is a difference between type 1 and 2. I just kinda believe anything is possible.


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[chromaloma]

Hi. I had to register to this community just to make a response to you. I have been in the so called honeymoon period for about 5 years. Or at least I was. Now I require more insulin, but "counteract" with eating more low-carb. Then I can get away with 2-3 basal and 0,5-1 unit for bolus. Not sure if I am just living differently or if it's the diabetes just progressing... There are sooo many things that can play a role in this, even from day to day basis. I don't think you can reverse type 1. According to new research, our beta cells are being set back to a childhood state. But this will eventually happen to anyone who has antibodies - which is a requirement for the type 1 diagnosis.

 

[Spiker]

Hi Dancer

Sadly there is no evidence of any kind of spontaneous reversal of Type1 or other intervention that can reverse Type 1. The closest thing would be islet cell transplantation, which can partly or totally reverse Type 1 for a period of up to ten years. At the moment these have very strict clinical criteria to get. They also mean you have to take anti-rejection drugs, which suppress your immune system.

Otherwise there is plenty you can do to improve your management and improve your health, quality of life, etc, but sadly no cure yet. There is research on vaccines to prevent T1D, but also nothing past early experimental stages. And that would not apply to people who already have Type 1.

My personal advice would be to low carb as much as you can, in order to preserve your beta cell function and keep producing your own insulin as long as possible. Even producing a small amount of insulin will make the condition easier to manage (well in some ways).

 

[ivoschne]

I have read a paper where they claimed they found like 6 people (can't remember the excact number, but it was under 10) in whole china which had full remission after a couple of weeks on insulin therapy and where insulin free for at least two years. But I was not able to find one case, where someone was able to stay off insulin for the rest of his life Here is the description of a 7 year long remission. Factors influencing the durance of remission are hba1c at diagnosis (high blood sugars are killing the insulin producing cells), age of onset, how many types of antibodies (I for example only have tested GAD positive but ICA & IAA negative) and how well you manage to keep your remaining beta cells "off work" (some researchers now think they only get attacked while they are producing insulin). Low carb helped me a lot in maintaining stable and predictable blood sugars.

 

[diabeticdancer]

Thanks for your responses. Even a few year so my body helping me manage it would make me happier.

I will give the low carbing thing a go. Although I do feel that this would be fairly difficult giving the training that I do.

Any other tips on prolonging the honeymoon period I would be grateful xx


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[Spiker]

The other tip on preserving honeymoon function is to start using injected insulin earlier rather than at the last possible minute. Let injected insulin do the heavy lifting, to allow your pancreas to do the fine tuning. Fine tuning is very hard to do with injected insulin.

There are many bodybuilders and other athletes now who low carb, so it should be possible to match low carb to your physical regime. Remember, fats carry more energy than carbs, and last longer. It's only extremely intensive exercise (0.5 to 2 seconds duration iirc) that depends on carbs.

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[ElyDave]

The other tip on preserving honeymoon function is to start using injected insulin earlier rather than at the last possible minute. Let injected insulin do the heavy lifting, to allow your pancreas to do the fine tuning. Fine tuning is very hard to do with injected insulin.

There are many bodybuilders and other athletes now who low carb, so it should be possible to match low carb to your physical regime. Remember, fats carry more energy than carbs, and last longer. It's only extremely intensive exercise (0.5 to 2 seconds duration iirc) that depends on carbs.

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Not quite true, pretty much anything aerobic is using carbs, to one degree or another, but depending on duration and effort level also using fat metabolism. You are right that fats carry more energy, but the metabolic pathways are much slower and require soem blood sugar to support them as well. After about 90-120 mins, there is a big drop off in carb mechanism and a higher preponderance of fat usage.

Short duration stuff very much depends on carbs, but AFTER the first ten seconds or so. Weight lifting and similar, anaerobic stuff tends not to have much effect on BG from what I have read, and also experienced directly.

I think the OP would find it very difficult to go low carb with a high level of aerobic activity, but that activity should promote insulin sensitivity and reduce the need for injected insulin. On long run/ride days for me, my insulin usage is almost halved and my carb consumption almost doubled.

 

[Daibell]

I've seen one or two posts over the months that indicate that someone may have been mis-diagnosed as T1 perhaps because they were on steroids or whatever. In these cases full remission can happen but it's rare or only related to specific medical causes such as steroids

 

[ivoschne]

Some other mammals are quite similar to humans regarding diabetes. For example sometimes T1D, but much more often T2D occurs in pet monkeys and cats. The incidence rate of monkey/cat diabetes is almost the same like in our western society. Like humans, also T1 monkeys and cats (although some claim cats can recover) are on insulin for lifetime. Sometimes I wonder if we would have a cure when more research would be done with monkeys and cats instead of NOD mice. One other interesting fact: when these animals develop T2, all vetenerians advice a low & slow carb diet because it obviously works while on the same time T2 humans are being told to eat lots of carbs. Something is very wrong here.

 

[AlexMBrennan]

One other interesting fact: when these animals develop T2, all vetenerians advice a low & slow carb diet because it obviously works while on the same time T2 humans are being told to eat lots of carbs. Something is very wrong here.

So, you are saying that scientists taught cats how to carb count, and that study found that low carb was more effective than carb counting + insulin? I'd love to see that paper.

 

[mo1905]

I don't think anyone mentioned teaching a cat to carb count. I don't think they prepare their own meals so it's not difficult to work out insulin requirement.


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[AtkinsMo]

You should obtain 2 books, not directly related to diabetes, but related to the science of low carb eating. Both are by Phinney and Volek. The Art and Science of Low Carb Living and the Art and Science of Low Carb Performance. They are both doctors / scientists, I haven't got the performance one but it is to do with endurance sport. They have done a lot of work with a professional cycling team in the US, looking at maximising performance while 'low carb-ing'. The one just on living goes right into the science and convinced me that a low carb diet was a healthy alternative for life. I am not t1 - I was just pre-diabetic, (now fit and healthy, on Atkins dietfor life) so not a comparison, but there might be some tips to help you combine a low carb diet with an exercise schedule.

 

[Bebo321]

The other tip on preserving honeymoon function is to start using injected insulin earlier rather than at the last possible minute. Let injected insulin do the heavy lifting, to allow your pancreas to do the fine tuning. Fine tuning is very hard to do with injected insulin.

There are many bodybuilders and other athletes now who low carb, so it should be possible to match low carb to your physical regime. Remember, fats carry more energy than carbs, and last longer. It's only extremely intensive exercise (0.5 to 2 seconds duration iirc) that depends on carbs.

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Good advice Spiker - 'Let injected insulin to do the 'heavy lifting' to allow the pancreas to do the 'fine tuning''

 

[Bebo321]

Not quite true, pretty much anything aerobic is using carbs, to one degree or another, but depending on duration and effort level also using fat metabolism. You are right that fats carry more energy, but the metabolic pathways are much slower and require soem blood sugar to support them as well. After about 90-120 mins, there is a big drop off in carb mechanism and a higher preponderance of fat usage.

Short duration stuff very much depends on carbs, but AFTER the first ten seconds or so. Weight lifting and similar, anaerobic stuff tends not to have much effect on BG from what I have read, and also experienced directly.

I think the OP would find it very difficult to go low carb with a high level of aerobic activity, but that activity should promote insulin sensitivity and reduce the need for injected insulin. On long run/ride days for me, my insulin usage is almost halved and my carb consumption almost doubled.

Theoretically I suppose you could do a form of 'low carb' dieting even with lots of aerobic exercise - by only ever consuming a higher level of carbs directly after exercise. Only carb up in the 30 minute window after exercising when your body is most actively re-stocking with glycogen.
You could then remain low carb for any other meals (and be entirely low carb on days that you don't exercise).
I guess it's a form of 'low carb' diet - certainly it's one that should keep you safe from hypos.
I know you couldn't strictly call it 'low carb', but what do you think?

 

[Bebo321]

I don't think anyone mentioned teaching a cat to carb count. I don't think they prepare their own meals so it's not difficult to work out insulin requirement.


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[AlexMBrennan]

I don't think anyone mentioned teaching a cat to carb count. I don't think they prepare their own meals so it's not difficult to work out insulin requirement.


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My point was that you need different treatment for humans and animals, and somewhat more cynically that they have different treatment goals (e.g. you'd probably have your pet put down before buying an insulin pump) so I'd question the validity of that deduction (low carb is best because vets use it on animals)

 

[mo1905]

My point was that you need different treatment for humans and animals, and somewhat more cynically that they have different treatment goals (e.g. you'd probably have your pet put down before buying an insulin pump) so I'd question the validity of that deduction (low carb is best because vets use it on animals)

That makes good sense but is quite different to your previous comment of:
"So, you are saying that scientists taught cats how to carb count"

 

[Spiker]

Dogs and particularly cats should not be getting carbs. It's shocking that we see diabetic dogs and cats now. What do we expect, feeding carbs to a predator? Dogs might tolerate some carbs but cats don't tolerate any. Decades of pet food manufacturers trying to persuade cats to eat carbs to boost their profits. I think it's disgusting.

But it doesn't have a great bearing on diabetes in humans or the treatment of diabetes in humans. It's interesting but not conclusive.

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[paul-1976]

How these pet food manufacturers can state that their dry kibble products are healthier for a carnivorous animal than meat is disgusting indeed! Suffice to say I don't feed my dog on such frankenfoods.

 

[Dillinger]

I don't think anyone mentioned teaching a cat to carb count. I don't think they prepare their own meals so it's not difficult to work out insulin requirement.

I've got a picture of a cat if that would be of any use?