08 June 2020

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Exercise and diet cured two thirds of young diabetics

Sergey Kolenov, N+1

Regular exercise and a calorie-restricted diet in just a year brought 61 percent of patients with type 2 diabetes into remission. According to the authors of the study published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, such impressive results are associated with the youth of the participants of the experiment, who were from 18 to 50 years old. However, scientists have no doubt that a healthy lifestyle can alleviate the effects of diabetes at any age.

Type 2 diabetes mellitus is a dangerous disease fraught with numerous complications, from blindness to paralysis. The reasons for its occurrence are not yet fully clear. Nevertheless, there is more and more data showing that type 2 diabetes is curable. Moreover, in some cases, remission can be achieved solely through lifestyle changes.

A team of researchers led by Shahrad Taheri from the Vail Cornell Medical College branch in Doha decided to evaluate the effectiveness of diet and exercise as a means of combating diabetes. Scientists recruited a group of 158 volunteers who were diagnosed with diabetes no more than three years ago. The age of the subjects ranged from 18 to 50 years, on average — 42 years.

The participants of the experiment were randomly divided into two subgroups, the first of which received standard care for diabetes. Patients from the second group were asked to adhere to the so-called Cambridge low-calorie diet for 12 weeks. The next 12 weeks were transitional, after which the volunteers were transferred to a less strict diet, which, however, still required control over the amount of calories consumed. In addition to changes in diet, participants in the experimental subgroup were recommended to take ten thousand steps a day and devote at least 150 minutes a week to physical exercise.

A year after the study began, it turned out that participants who followed a low-calorie diet and regularly did exercises lost an average of twelve kilograms. For comparison, the progress of patients from the control subgroup turned out to be much more modest — minus four kilograms.

Moreover, 61 percent of the volunteers from the experimental subgroup went into remission of diabetes mellitus. In the control subgroup, only 12 percent of the participants were able to achieve similar success.

Similar tests conducted in 2014-2017 by specialists from the UK allowed 46 percent of volunteers who followed a diet and performed exercises to be cured of diabetes. The more impressive result of the new experiment is most likely due to the average age of the participants: it was ten years less than in the British study.

The authors believe that calorie restriction and exercise can make life easier for diabetic patients at any age. Nevertheless, as the results of their research show, the earlier the transition to a healthy lifestyle begins, the stronger the effect will be.

Many diabetic patients need injections of insulin or its analogues. Unfortunately, these drugs begin to act only 15-30 minutes after the injection. In an attempt to get a faster-acting remedy for lowering blood glucose levels, researchers have designed a hybrid mini-insulin inspired by the venom of a predatory cone snail. It does not form complexes of molecules, which allows it to act almost instantly.

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