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is diabetes reversible

S

starlight1

Well-Known Member
Messages
67
Type of diabetes
Type 2
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people who have no manners
hi there, I have just been haveing a debate with a friend of mine who is non diabetic about wether diabetes is reversable. I believe once you have diabetes you have it for life, my friends says it can be reversed,to a none diabetic state. Who is right ?
 
Re: is diabetes reversable

The conditions – your pancreas 1. has stopped producing insulin – type 1 2. produces insulin but there are others things that disabled it from doing their job - insulin-resistant this what type? 3. does not produce enough to clear excess sugar in your blood – this is type 2
According to me :) there are three catagories. No1 – may be reversed if the pancreas can be revived if a medicine that revives it is discovered. The other alternative is by replacing it with man- made pancreas. No2 can be healed by medication that helps fight the anti-insulin things in the blood or by taking another form that is friendly or hostile to things that prevent insulin from doing its job. No3 can be reversed if the pancreas is healed by pills to revive it. here there might be some possibility. I think Type 2 can be reversed if one knows the root cause for the failure of the pancreas to produce enough insulin. Otherwise, the solution can only be man- made like type 1.
Even though it looks very bleak, I am still a firm believer in reversing diabetes theory. Knowing how your pancreas works and how to have non-diabetic level is the key. This came to my mind. Is beating diabetes not the same as reversing it?
 
Re: is diabetes reversable

As far as I know, with Type 2, it can be reversed by diet, medication, exercise and weight loss (if necessary) to a state where you don't need to take any medication and your blood glucose levels are the same as a non-diabetic's.

BUT - if you think you're cured, and go back to eating unsuitable foods etc, your blood glucose levels will soon be up there at diabetic levels again!

So yes, Type 2 can be controlled to non-diabetic levels - but once diagnosed, you are always diabetic and must never ignore it.

Until they find the miracle cure! :D

Viv 8)
 
Re: is diabetes reversable

Well, apart from waiting for the 'stem cell' treatment to come, which still seems way down the road, and perhaps won't work so well for T2s, I'm waiting for some bright spark from the Science business to come up with a way of reducing, or taking out 'effective carbos' for diabetic purposes, out of normal foods.

Well....? They did it with sugar.

Helena.
 
Re: is diabetes reversable

Viv's right. To re-inforce, once you have diabetes, you can control your blood sugar, through medication or diet, to a non-diabetic level, but this is NOT reversing it, which implies curing it. It only stays at non-diabetic levels while you stay on the medication or diet. As soon as you revert to a normal "non-diabetic" diet, or stop the meds, your blood sugars would rise again. There is some debate about ultra-low calorie diets for a period reversing diabetes, and some members on this forum are trying it, but the jury's still out on that. Their is also a level of type 2 diabetes called "Pre-diabetes", which used to be called borderline diabetes. At this level, it is possible, with life style and diet changes, to revert to a non-diabetic state, but it is likely that such a person could go back to diabetic very easily if they slacken and go back to the diet they were on - in other words, they will always be vulnerable. Who knows, Pancreas transplants may become common, or a magic pill discovered, but at the moment, diabetic means diabetic, no going back. Unless of course our ultra low cal friends prove otherwise!
 
Re: is diabetes reversable

Simply put you can reverse high blood glucose but once a diabetic always a diabetic, at least at present :)
 
Re: is diabetes reversable

your high blood glucose levels may be brought under control by diet and excercise alone. i dont particulary worry about the label "diabetic" i think of it more as a allergy to sugar in all its various forms.

i suspect there a millions of people living and having a ketogenic diet by default who, if they ate all the rubbish available in the shops today, would be diabetic but they live and die at a ripe ld age without ever knowing.

but the good news is. if you cannot control it by diet and exercise or by joining a hunter gather tribe then there are medications that will help.
 
re: is diabetes reversable

Why reverse it? after all free prescriptions isn't to be sneezed at!
 
Re: is diabetes reversable

Gappy said:
after all free prescriptions isn't to be sneezed at!
Click to expand...

Fantastic. The only benefit, - I was over 60 when diagnosed so getting them anyway! Should have been diagnosed earlier.....
 
Re: is diabetes reversable

My fasting levels are so low now 4.5 for example ,this morning, that it does look as if I have now reversed my type 2 diabetes. However I am pretty sure that if I stopped my low carb/low GI diet with lots of aerobic cardio exercise it would be back!! I will be interested to see what happens next time I get a cold or flu as last time it went right up and took 10 days to come back down again.
I am allowing myself more chocolate (85%+) and more things like balti mix and sesame sticks made from gram flour but all this is doing is piling the pounds on!!! My type 2 is genetic not from over weight.
I have to admit that I think I achieved these low fasting levels which are pretty recent from the homeopathic remedy I have been taking. I am a homeopath and therefore have tried many before I found this one which is a very common remedy but obviously my constitutional remedy.
I am lucky enough to get strips on prescription but am wary that they may be taken off me so I rarely test at other times than first thing in the morning. I sort of think that this is the important reading for doctors so if that is Ok the rest will be. I have been prediabetic if there really such a thing/Type 2 since 2006.
 
Re: is diabetes reversable

No. I do not agree with all the answers given in the posts. Forget about reversal and self torturing about the 'why me?' What did I do to deserve this does no one any good. No one truly has the right or wrong answers as to why. I spent my whole life asking that question, then stopped after 20 years. It drove my family and my ex-wife up the wall. Artificial Pancreas, pumps, stem cells and cloning for parts is abhorrent and against all that I believe in as a human being......not for me. I am and always will be against them. Diabetes reversal will never happen, and if it does, how will you feel after the life change? Will you still be the same person that you were then? conscious, aware, in-tune with your bodies needs and cravings? Learn to live with your condition, respect it and it will look after you, as well as making life a whole lot easier and less painful for you and your family in the long term. Some realities are harder to bare than others.
 
Re: is diabetes reversable

Artificial Pancreas, pumps [...] is abhorrent and against all that I believe in as a human being
Click to expand...
Yet you are fine with taking insulin. Do you test your blood sugar? If so, do you make adjustments to your insulin dose based on your readings? If so, how would taking twice as many readings and splitting your injections be "abhorrent"?
At the end of the day that's all the artificial pancreas (medical equipment approach), and to a lesser extent insulin pumps, are doing (very frequent tests, and continuously adjusted insulin doses based on the test results)

cloning for parts
Click to expand...
Yet you are OK with injecting insulin made in a lab using genetically engineered bacteria (or harvested from animals).

There are many good reasons to not have transplants, or an insulin pump, or whatever (the need for anti-rejection drugs comes to mind) but this is just silly.

PS: Here I am again, criticising faulty logic.
 
Re: is diabetes reversable

lostsoul said:
Artificial Pancreas, pumps, stem cells and cloning for parts is abhorrent and against all that I believe in as a human being......not for me. I am and always will be against them. Diabetes reversal will never happen, and if it does, how will you feel after the life change? /quote]

Your opinion is your opinion but I am of the opposite opinion to regarding the use of pumps and stem cell research, the latter not just regarding Diabetes but many awful life threatening and debilitating illnesses. Each to their own.

Regarding diabetes reversal, you are incorrect in your view point. You cannot say it will never happen anymore than I can say for sure that it will. We cannot know for sure. If mine was reversed I would be a lot happier and I feel the same way regarding my daughter's diabetes.

Different strokes for different folks Lostsoul. :)
Click to expand...
 
Re: is diabetes reversable

So 'lostsoul', if a cure did come along, stem cells, or something else, you would refuse it and stay a diabetic??

Helena
 
Re: re: is diabetes reversable

Gappy said:
Why reverse it? after all free prescriptions isn't to be sneezed at!
Click to expand...

I could think of a few reasons why it would be good to reverse it:-

Not having to inject/infuse insulin 24/7 to stay alive
Not having to wear an insulin pump attached to the skin 24/7
Having a normal life-expectancy
Being able to get a driving licence
Being able to take GCSE exams without fear of hypos/hypers affecting cognitive function
Being regarded by peers as 'normal'
Being able to eat without counting carbs
Not having to carry a glucagen injection everywhere in case of unconsciousness
Being able to be left alone/live alone without fear of hypos (and dying)
Being able to sleep at night without fear of 'dead in bed' syndrome
Not having the risk of complications later in life (blindness, amputation, heart/liver/kidney failure)

Do you want any more??? I would be delighted to give up my son's free prescriptions and disability living allowance in return for reversing his T1. As it is, all I can do is support charities such as JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Fund) who have many projects running - all with the ultimate aim of curing Type 1.
 
Re: is diabetes reversable

Sandra, I'm sure Gappy didn't mean offence. It was a light hearted comment, not to be taken seriously. We all use a bit of the "British humour" sometimes, making light of serious matters as a way of coping. Of COURSE you'd want your son cured, we all understand that. None of us want this thing that blights us.
Good luck to you both
 
Re: is diabetes reversable

Grazer & All

I wasn't offended by Gappy's remarks at all. However, if indeed he intended to be funny, then the remarks lacked any wit or comedy and could have benefitted from a little laughing smiley to at least indicate some emotional intelligence :roll:

We should bear in mind that many people using this forum - and in this case the original poster in particular - have a lack of diabetes knowledge. I wouldn't want that person to get the impression that any type of diabetes is not to be taken seriously, could be reversed and is not a big deal.

So, for the benefit of those who don't know. 10% of diabetes is Type 1. It is an autoimmune disease which is incurable and life-threatening and can only be treated with insulin. 90% of diabetes is Type 2 - which is a different condition, about which I don't know a great deal - but I still believe it to be irreversible, except perhaps in the very early (or pre-diabetic) stages.

and just to add that as a family, we have enjoyed some of the funnier moments of living with diabetes. It helps to keep us sane! A friend of mine has little girl twins, only one of whom has T1 diabetes. Hence, when the non-diabetic one swapped bunk beds one night with her sister, she had a nasty surprise 'finger prick' imposed on her whilst she lay sleeping! Much to the amusement of the diabetic child who was awake in the other bed and desperately trying not to laugh :lol:
 
Re: is diabetes reversable

Can diabetes be reversed?
Yes! Remission as defined by fasting blood glucose <7.00 mmol without medication is well documented for individuals that have undergone bariatric surgery.
 
Re: is diabetes reversable

Hmm. :eh:

Well documented..this should be interesting.. 8)
 
Re: is diabetes reversable

Hang on - are you talking about remission after the surgery is reversed or remission with artificially reduced stomach capacity? Only the former can be considered a remission (since artificially reduced stomach capacity amounts to continued medication usage)
 
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