Type 2 diabetes is considered an incurable disease but it is possible to get rid of it.
This was revealed in a medical study in the UK.
A clinical trial conducted by , found that weight loss can prevent type 2 diabetes for at least 5 years.
The study found that after starting a low-calorie diet, a quarter of people in a clinical trial managed to get rid of diabetes and did not have a recurrence of the disease for 5 years.
These people did not even need to use medicines to keep their blood sugar stable.
These individuals lost an average of 9 kg over 5 years.
Research has shown that losing body weight and maintaining that loss helps reverse diabetes.
People with diabetes are at increased risk of heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure and other complications.
Obesity is considered a major risk factor for type 2 diabetes, in fact, research reports that obese individuals have an 80-fold increased risk of developing this chronic disease.
The trial enrolled 298 people, 50 percent of whom were given conventional diabetes care and the rest who were put on a special diet.
In total, these individuals were put on a diet containing 800 calories per day for 12 to 20 weeks.
Initially, the duration of this study was kept for 2 years, but then its time was extended and 95 people were evaluated for another 3 years.
At the start of the second phase of the study, 48 of the 95 had managed to get rid of type 2 diabetes, and 3 years later, 23 percent had not yet been diagnosed with the disease again.
Losing weight and then maintaining that weight loss may be the only way to keep diabetes at bay, researchers said, because weight gain can cause the disease to come back.
Earlier in December 2022, a study reported that diabetic patients can get rid of the disease by adopting intermittent fasting.
Intermittent fasting involves abstaining from food for a specific period of time each day.
According to research published in the journal Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, this dietary regimen may also help prevent diabetes.
Type 2 diabetes doesn't necessarily stay with you for life, researchers said, and patients can manage it by losing weight through diet and exercise.
In this study, 36 people affected by diabetes were included and instructed to adopt intermittent fasting for 3 months.
The results showed that adopting this dietary strategy reduced the need for diabetes medication for 90 percent of people.
Of these, 55 percent recovered from diabetes and maintained healthy blood sugar levels after a year off medication.