Yes, I’d also looked at the IVGTT/argenine data but didn’t appreciate the timing issues there. Regarding measured insulin rate, I speculate that a “good” outcome on that would make it likely that the curve integral, had it been measured, would also have been good, tho they are not the same thing.
They are not the same thing. The results reported in the text part use the umol.l/sec/m^2 result, i.e. the rate adjusted for body surface area (BMI) and this is the justification used to make the claim that the response improved due to weight loss and pancreatic fat clearance. Now there may well be benefit from the intervention, but there is a question mark (actually at least 2) that makes the quantitative claim invalid.
Could you kindly check the timing of the pancreatic fat dissipation? In Taylor's retrospective in Diabetologia Vol.61, pages 273–283 (2018) he states that Counterpoint "demonstrated that over the 8 week study period the level of fat in the pancreas gradually decreased".
And although a starvation diet was used, understandably, in order to impose a tight version of lab control over what the participants were eating, it was actually not necessary to achieving the weight loss. (In my own case, at diagnosis, I rejected the ND diet as over-severe and simply cut down on calories on my own terms for four months, lopping off 15kg in the process without the slightest difficulty or discomfort. And I'd advise anyone else to try the same as the first line of attack.)
Check out some of the shareholders in Counterweight (the NHS recommended meal replacement) against names of people involved in the Direct trials before claiming they are "impoverished".
The diets used were indeed just standard OTC weight loss diet plans - Optifast 800. Exante, and most recently Cambridge Diet. But these diets have been round for yonks I remember my mum attempting Slimfast way back. But there was no claims made by any of these plans to fix diabetes, except a note that it may affect blood sugars. No Remission.
Yes its so strange how the word 'Miracle' rhymes so sweetly with $$$. I see Prof Lean is selling his own diet plan, and its based on Oatmeal: = after all he is in Scotland. He seems to have moved on from ND.
Well, I agree that label would not fit them all. But having myself supervised very many PhD students and research assistants I am aware of their situation and their struggles in general. Without them, research would be much the sorrier.
Yes, you have a lot of carbs-reduction slack should you need it. Am I in remission? I suppose so, having held my A1c in the range 39-42 for over 18 months and not an ounce of weight regain. No post-prandial spikes of note and typical fbg of 5.2. BMI of 20-21. I am coded at my surgery as in remission. Note that for someone aged 75 this A1c range is well below pre-diabetic.
How does he know if the weight gain lost the remission or if the loss of remission is what caused the gain? I firmly believe I gain weight after and as a result of rising levels.
Now that is a very good question. Maybe there are plausible mechanisms for the one case but not (or less so) for the other case. I don’t have the knowledge to judge that one.
May I ask how you dealt with the condition in the first few months after diagnosis and with what outcome at the end of that period?
He would have no issue with oatmeal, being a staunch believer that carbs are not the root of the problem.
I am heavily involved with the NIHR, and as a consequence a couple biomedical research units. They are densely populated by PhD students. The vast majority of those are qualified in one capacity or another. They usually have full-time employment, alongside their studies. That said, I have encountered those just notching up through academia, but they are usually in the "exercise" arena.
My dealings were in academia where for a long period full-time research students on grants had little liberty (or the time) to supplement with earnings.
Low carb. I was in remission by my HbA1c a year later.
