• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

What if someone had diabetes but reversed it without knowing they even had diabetes?

M

Mollyc1995

Well-Known Member
Messages
133
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
this is something I’ve been really thinking about...even if it may sound stupid to some....I didn’t have symptoms of diabetes until my blood test stated my blood sugars was high.....

So let’s say for example there’s a person out there who is diabetic but they don’t know it, let’s say they are overweight and decide to lose weight and achieve a successful weightloss and are in healthy range.....let’s say it’s taken this person 9 months to achieve this and they then go to the doctor for a check up and have a blood test...most likely this persons blood is in a healthy range due to all the weightloss and exercise....doctors give the person all clear bill of health.....the doctor Wouldn’t have know his patient was diabetic....so what happens to the person with diabetes who reversed it with out even knowing he/she was diabetic to begin with?
 

They carry on as normal.

There are many conditions which go unnoticed - heart attacks in women being just one. Sometimes at a later date the damage will be discovered and the jigsaw put together from memory, but until such times as evidence is uncovered, the person will carry on.

Let's not forget, not all of those who look like "typical diabetics" are diabetic, and not all those who look the picture of health are healthy either.
 
If the person is still eating too many carbs or sugar, BS levels may still be elevated. Yes exercise will help, but it won't make you a non-diabetic.
 
Muneeb said:
If the person is still eating too many carbs or sugar, BS levels may still be elevated. Yes exercise will help, but it won't make you a non-diabetic.
Click to expand...

I guess it also depends on how many carbs is too much for a individual....for example my blood in the morning is around a 4.3 - 4.9 ususally and after meals it’s no more than a 7, usually a 6.5 and return to normal levels 2 hrs post meal....I tracked my carbs too I eat between 150-200 grams a day which doesn’t affect my blood sugars getting huge spikes
 
In the end, if you cannot be clinically diagnosed with diabetes then you don’t have it. What came before or may come later is a different matter.
 
One point I will just make, for completeness, is that, to date Type 1 cannot be reversed. Sometimes a person will have a lengthy honeymoon period, but it can't be cured.

I hear say, it'll be cured in 10 years, but then that's been being said for decades!
 

I know type 1 can not be reversed (as of yet), I specifically mean type 2
 
Insulin resistance can come in all shapes and sizes, sure you may have stopped the beta cell decline but there may be other tissues that are experiencing problems. Also congrats on your remission too by the by!


Time is just relative right? Depends how long a year REALLY is to you
 
I would say that such a person as you describe needs to be very careful. Regaining the weight, eating as they did prior to taking themselves in hand, then they would very soon be diagnosed diabetic. T2 is a metabolic condition that can be put in remission, but equally can also return. I do not believe there is a cure for T2, just remission.

Edited to add - and all the exercise may one day have to stop, due to injury or old age.
 
If ketogenic/paleo eating continues to gain traction among the masses, then I can very much imagine a situation arising where many with diabetes have fixed their malfunction without ever knowing they had it. As it stands right now though, nearly everyone who is attempting to lose weight is probably fuelling their exercise with pasta and making everything worse.
 

Some people who are T2 have FBG levels that are within normal range, so they fly under the radar for some time. Even before I started on insulin, my FBG averaged 5.2 and you just won't get diagnosed on a yearly check with a level like that. You'll get the all good comment. So it's not that hard to go undetected or as you described hypothetically.
 

I believe this is less of a factor here in the UK where we no longer use a fasting glucose test to diagnose. Regular lab testing ordered by a doc here would normally be HbA1c. On its own, that’s far from perfect either, of course.
 

Ditto. My FBG has always been low 5s. My diagnostic test was not fasting. HbA1c was 53. Blood glucose was 7 not very long after having lunch. My first FBG at the surgery was 5.4 shortly after this. However, quite a long time ago now my surgery stopped doing the blood glucose tests on routine tests. Everyone gets the HbA1c, diabetic or not.
 
Fundamentally, you are asking whether there is a difference between someone who is aware of their status as being T2 and doing something to address the condition, and someone who is unaware but just happens to lose excess weight. I know which camp I would rather be in. And it is not all about weight, weight loss or gain can be a symptom - a proxy marker. No more.
 

I agree with everything you’ve said....but let’s say they kept the weight off by eating a healthier diet and stuck to it regardless of exercise or when I mean exercise it could be just walking or moderate nothing excessive
 
Jim Lahey said:
I believe this is less of a factor here in the UK where we no longer use a fasting glucose test to diagnose. Regular lab testing ordered by a doc here would normally be HbA1c. On its own, that’s far from perfect either, of course.
Click to expand...

Yeah, on a yearly health exam here the only measurement for diabetes is FBG, no hba1c.... which is just as inadequate as you can imagine.
 

My mother showed me her yearly, no hba1c, just a FBG as her lipids were also done. I think we are a bit behind on testing here.
 
Mollyc1995 said:
I agree with everything you’ve said....but let’s say they kept the weight off by eating a healthier diet and stuck to it regardless of exercise or when I mean exercise it could be just walking or moderate nothing excessive
Click to expand...

Then in theory they would go undiagnosed. Neither the patient or the doctor would ever know that diabetes had been in place. All else being equal, they may never find out. If a tree falls in a forest but there’s no one there to hear it fall, does it make a sound?

In reality, I think that although I’m sure this does happen, it is most likely vanishingly rare. There aren’t currently a great many people who would think that cutting out the bird seed and replacing it with demonic saturated fat is a good plan for improving their health.
 
Mollyc1995 said:
I agree with everything you’ve said....but let’s say they kept the weight off by eating a healthier diet and stuck to it regardless of exercise or when I mean exercise it could be just walking or moderate nothing excessive
Click to expand...

A lot of us think we eat healthily pre diagnosis and we possibly do eat healthily for a non Diabetic but in your scenario of a T2 just losing weight probably using the calories in - calories out (CICO) method then eventually the Insulin Resistance will come to the fore. The normal western diet is inherently harmful and one cannot outrun an unhealthy diet forever.
 
Guzzler said:
And it is not all about weight, weight loss or gain can be a symptom - a proxy marker. No more.
Click to expand...

And this point deserves centre stage. Difficult to overstate the message that obesity does not cause diabetes.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register
Cookies are required to use this site. You must accept them to continue using the site. Learn More.…