Each year, 1.5 million Americans are diagnosed as having diabetes. 9095 percent of diabetes cases will be type 2, a chronic condition that can cause vision loss, heart disease, kidney disease and other health problems.
It doesn't have be this way for a subset.
Recent research has shown that type 2 diabetes can often be reversed by lifestyle changes and diets.
However, it is difficult to determine how many people can successfully reverse this condition. There are hundreds of millions of diabetics around the globe, and millions are not even aware of their condition.
It's hard to predict how many people will develop type 2 diabetes, even if there are scientific studies that specifically measure remission.
A new study out of Scotland shows that the phenomenon may be more common than we think, even without any invasive interventions like bariatric surgery.
Mireille Captieux, a University of Edinburgh clinical diabetes researcher, said, "We were able to demonstrate, for the first-time, that one out of 20 people with type 2 diabetes in Scotland achieves remission."
"This is more than we expected, and it indicates the need for updated guidelines to assist clinicians in recognizing and supporting these people."
Captieux and her coauthors evaluated a national Scottish diabetes registry that contained data for more than 99.5 percent of those with the condition.
Based on HbA1c (glycated haglobin) readings within the diabetic range, they identified 162,316 people over 30 years old with type 2 diabetes.
This cohort was approximately 4.8 percent of the total number of people who went into remission during the study window, which took place in the calendar year 2019. Their HbA1c readings fell below 48 mmol/mol.
People who went into remission more often were older and had lost weight after their diagnosis. They also had no history of diabetes lowering therapy or bariatric surgeries.
The researchers wrote in their paper that "our prevalence estimates suggest a reasonably high proportion of people achieve type 2 diabetes remission in routine clinical care without trial or bariatric surgeries settings."
"The immediate implications of this are that they should be identified and coded appropriately in order to provide adequate support and follow up care. This is consistent with diabetes management guidelines. Recognize that diabetes remission may not last forever.
The findings will not only help us support those who seem to be able to reverse type 2 diabetes by themselves, but they could also aid researchers and health professionals in identifying which patients are most likely to reach and keep remission.
Although it is not yet clear how the results of Scotland could be applied to other communities, one thing is certain.
We need more information on how to reverse this disease, as estimates suggest that the world's current population of approximately 460 million diabetes patients will grow to 700 million by 2045.
These findings were published in PLOS Medicine.
