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Reversal or remission - your thoughts

I have Myasthenia Gravis there is no cure.

I have Diabetes T2 there is no cure

Though with both conditions I believe you can achieve or be in remission.

So far in thirteen years I have never been in remission for MG. I do believe that at this moment in time I am in remission as far as diabetes is concerned I hope it lasts but nothing is guaranteed in this life except death and taxes.

I just wish that I could change "I have reversed my T2 diabetes" to I am in remission of T2 diabetes or such like on the profile page.
 

I see two categories of cures, depending on the cause of the high glucose.

In the quote, we have an example of hyperglycaemia caused by something other than primary beta cell failure or primary insulin resistance. There's a crucial fact that a lot of people don't know -- and I suspect that includes many HCP's. That fact is: when diagnosing diabetes mellitus, the cause is not a criterion. The only criterion of "diabetes mellitus" (DM) is the hyperglycaemia itself.

Ask what the cause is, and the answer will be "beta cell failure" and "insulin resistance". But that's only, say, 99% of the time. If the "nondiabetic cause of the diabetes" is removed, and the beta cells weren't severely damaged in the meantime, then the hyperglycaemia is cured.

OK, now to the category we really care about: the cause being beta cell failure or death, sometimes compounded by insulin resistance. But it's widely acknowledged -- maybe not yet the majority opinion, but it's widely believed -- that we can eat our way to being diabetic by eating sugars and white flour. It stands to reason some people can achieve cure by reversing the diet.

I agree that many people would relapse if they went back to a regular high carb diet. I say that doesn't matter in practice because high carb diets are unhealthy anyway. Once you eat your way into remission, you can eat high carb any time you wish, just not every time. That is, even though there are hordes of people who can never be cured, they would have to carb up diligently for a year or three in order to bring back the illness. You can indulge in cake at a birthday party.

It's seems like weekly this Website has a testimonial of somebody losing two, three stone and achieving a low A1c all within months. Close enough to a cure for me.
 

I didn't say it wasn't possible, I just set out my criteria for what constitutes proof, so please don't put words in my mouth!


sud5nala said:
It's seems like weekly this Website has a testimonial of somebody losing two, three stone and achieving a low A1c all within months. Close enough to a cure for me.
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I've lost 8 1/2 stones and my A1c readings are normal, but unfortunately I can't indulge at all because as soon as I eat anything "bad" my blood sugar skyrockets.

I stand by my view that a normal A1c (or even multiple ones) doesn't indicate a cure if you are still controlling your diet - I feel you're cured if and when your blood sugar response is that of a non-diabetic under all circumstances
 
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Very true. I can eat what everyone else in the family eats and at first my BS is fine but if I keep eating like that my BS soon starts to climb, only slowly but it still goes up and so does the HbA1c, from 34 to 39 in 3 months. If I had continued who knows what it would have gone back up to.
 
If you can eat the recommended 250gms - 300gms of carbohydrate as recommended, and your BG is within normal limits, you're cured!
 
ickihun said:
I was quoting from the dictionary so you need to tell them mate!

Edited to say. And Wikipedia.
So understandable when their info wrong. Maybe?
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Wikipedia is a contribution based site, so only as good as those who add the data. As i understand it, anyone can add, or amend data. Of course that can lead to reports of Elvis working in a chip shop is Southport, but I know for a fact he works in one near me.
 

I'd tend to agree with andcol. Personally, I haven't yet committed the deep scientific testing (ahem) Andcol has done, so haven't quite gone as far as he has.

In therms of expectations, at diagnosis or later, in my view what people need is hope; not expectation. Some, but by no means all can do it. As we know, diabetes isn't monochrome or binary, but somewhere on a grey scale.

Hope, not expectation.
 
Oldvatr said:
Can you live on Eatwell#2 and survive?
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Me personally? NO! I would live for a while but with elevated BG, so would probably snuff it at some point.

My wife on the other hand goes "weak and wobbly" if she doesn't eat her carbs, as described in the NHS Eatwell thingy.
 
Oldvatr said:
Can you live on Eatwell#2 and survive?
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Yes.

So, 200g of stuff like bulgur wheat, oats, rye bread, corn, quinoa, couscous, basmati rice.

4 meals, 50g a meal, I don't think it would be an issue.
Probably actually more quantity than I actually eat, so I would have to admit to more veg, and more fruit, if I ate that big a meal, but it's more likely I would space it out over meals and snacks.
But then fruit and veg are mostly carbs, so I would guess it should balance.
 
Eatwell#2 has more than one segment portion. What would you do for the others?
 
And me. Ha har!
 
Oldvatr said:
Eatwell#2 has more than one segment portion. What would you do for the others?
Click to expand...

I don't stress the fruit and veg, whatever is in season, or available.
I like beans (french, runner, string) as a staple, but I'll eat anything on the click through on the NHS site, possibly light on the pears, mainly as I simply don't have a sweet tooth anymore.
The beans pulses, oily fish section is fine, all stuff I eat on there.
Lower fat, lower sugar no issues will.
You know my preference on oils.

http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-l...ting/in-depth/mediterranean-diet/art-20047801

is a good guide as well.

I tend to go more for vegetables anyway, so probably adapt the eatwell plate to a more Mediterranean bias, but I doubt it would kill me as the question asked.
 
I reduced my HbA1c from 7.1 to 5.1 over the last 6 months and lost 17kg along the way by following LCHF and IF. The doctor thought I may have been misdiagnosed so we ran an OGTT this morning. I peaked at 17.1 and was still over 11 at the 2 hour point. Definitely remission and not reversal for me.

Regards

Bluebell

Sent from my SM-T810 using Diabetes.co.uk Forum mobile app
 
Can anyone say their diabetes is resolved if they are on diabetic drugs? My blood pressure is not resolved whilst I still have an adrenal tumour and am on bp meds. I am in remission, as someone having cancer can be in remission by drug therapy. I could have been cured of high bp if the tumour had been removed earlier. Like some here my diabetes is resolved because I am not on diabetic drugs and my hba1c is 42 by diet. The English language has very subtle shades of meaning. It is the way I see it anyway! The advanced cancer I had 13 years ago I would hesistate to say anymore than it is still in remission. D.
 

How much difference does metformin make?
I have to admit, if I run out, it doesn't actually make any difference.
Then again, I don't particularly chase being labeled drug free, and metformin appears to have other beneficial effects, so, as long as my results come back normal every time, and my BG stays in the normal range, I'm not really going to feel much either way.
 
phil1966 said:
I stand by my view that a normal A1c (or even multiple ones) doesn't indicate a cure if you are still controlling your diet - I feel you're cured if and when your blood sugar response is that of a non-diabetic under all circumstances
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I partly agree. "under all circumstances" technically that's correct. It's nice to be able to drink 3 liters of fizzy drink a day -- that's what I did for two decades -- but now I realize it's not something I should do. If you could maintain low glucose test results while eating low carb, with sporadic indulgences, wouldn't that be good enough? Cure, reversal are a broad spectrum. It seems there are many people who can achieve tight control of glucose and who once they do, the burden of keeping it up will be light.
 
Perhaps we should keep in mind the real measure of the reversal and remission is really in extending the various complications and endpoints related to diabetes.

I reverse my diabetes not so that I can have my favorite ramen and fried rice regularly, but in order to live a life especially in old age that is not burden with lost memories, limbs, blindness and dialysis.
 

I think what is being said, is that reversing diabetes means you can have the same diet as a none diabetic, and have the same lack of diabetic complications a none diabetic would enjoy.
If the none diabetic enjoys rice, I would say if you have reversed your diabetes, you should be able to.
 
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