I always struggle to understand these graphs.
So please, anyone correct me if my understanding is wrong.
Anyone know what Fisher's Exact Test is?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fisher's_exact_test
Where is
@Oldvatr when you need him?
There were 2 groups, each had 149 people in them.
One group was a control, without dietary intervention.
The other group did the Newcastle Diet (shakes, 800 cal restriction for 8 weeks. Or longer?)
Am I correct that these were T2 diabetics selected on the criteria that they have/had fatty livers? And other co-morbidities were excluded?
Weight Loss Graph A:
Of the control group, 2% (3/149 people) had lost 15kg or more by year 2
Of the ND group, 24% (36/149 ppl) had lost 15kg or more by year 1, and 11% (17/149 ppl) had kept it off at year 2.
Remission Graph B:
I understand that Professor Taylor counts remission as an HbA1c of below 48mmol/mol for 6 months. Is that still the case? Where does he stand on Metformin and other medications, nowadays?
Of the control group, 4% (6/149 ppl) achieved remission in year 1, and 3.4% (5/149 ppl) stayed remissed at year 2.
of the ND group, 45.6% (68/149 ppl) achieved remission in year 1, and 35.6% (53/149 ppl) stayed remissed at year 2.
Remission linked to weight loss Graph C:
Of the ND group, the more weight lost, the greater chance of remission. Significantly so.
However, different weight loss groups seemed to have difference rates of continued remission, with the greatest weight loss group also having the most number of people lapse and regain by year 2.
I am completely confused by the n/N numbers on graph C since they do not seem to relate to numbers elsewhere. Possibly due to drop out numbers? Possibly due to statistical number crunching?
As always, my takeaway remains unchanged:
ND is only worth doing if you have a fatty liver, so get tested before embarking on it.
Those who struggle to lose weight will struggle just as much on this regime, and less weight loss = lower remission rate
The real challenge is to keep weight loss off after the end of the ND, as with almost all weight loss regimes.
Extrapolating the regain rate (greatest weight loss, Graph 3) into future years, does not suggest (to me) that the remission will last very long.