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2 Nurses In Tennessee Preach 'Diabetes Reversal'


dinneR

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https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/07/22/733748382/2-nurses-in-tennessee-preach-diabetes-reversal

Type 2 diabetes can be reversed with weight loss and exercise; but research shows that people need lots of help to achieve control of blood sugar with just a change in diet and lifestyle, and they rarely get enough support. It's easier for doctors and patients to rely primarily on medication.

Norris says trying to overhaul her diet by herself was confusing and difficult. And when things didn't change, the doctor just kept increasing her dosage of insulin.

But then Norris lost her health insurance. The injectable insulin cost her hundreds of dollars a month — money she simply didn't have.

Fortunately, that's when a couple of nurses who were members of her community stepped in to help — not with cash, but with crucial support of a different sort.

At the nonprofit Beersheba Springs Medical Clinic, a nonprofit clinic founded in 2010 to bring free or low-cost health care to the area, Norris was introduced to an alternative approach to taming her Type 2 diabetes — and the prospect of reversing her diagnosis altogether.

 

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There are many different trajectories among type 2.  Some people, especially heavier people can reverse it through weight loss. But if you gain the weight back, you'll get the symptoms back.

Some people can't. Some thin people don't have much to lose, so a 30 pound loss isn't feasible.

I'm trying to reverse symptoms through Keto.  My doctor says he's doesn't expect me to need insulin anytime soon, but I'm hoping never.

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Just now, BuffJim said:

There are many different trajectories among type 2.  Some people, especially heavier people can reverse it through weight loss. But if you gain the weight back, you'll get the symptoms back.

Some people can't. Some thin people don't have much to lose, so a 30 pound loss isn't feasible.

I'm trying to reverse symptoms through Keto.  My doctor says he's doesn't expect me to need insulin anytime soon, but I'm hoping never.

Jim beat me to it but I was going to say something similar.

 In my early 30’s I was running marathons, had a 34 inch waist at 190 lbs and was prediabetic.  I honestly don’t know how or what I could have done to stave off the disease but I did keep it in check for 10 years.

There isn’t a one size fits all solution.

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As BuffJim and Chris point out, it isn't a silver bullet, BUT if Wiki(!) is correct, and it boils down to three main "causes" - Lifestyle, Genetics, & Medical - with all three potentially affecting the others, then it really seems the ONLY one we have control over is the "lifestyle" one, so that's a great place to tackle the low hanging fruit. 

You can't change your genes (yet) and medical conditions are tough as well, but getting serious about diet and exercise are certainly things folks can choose to explore.

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My dad (RIP) was about 80 yo when he was diagnosed with Type II.  He was not over weight and had an active lifestyle.  In his mid to late 80s he had read a report from Germany that showed a reduced calorie diet could eliminate TII.  He went for it.  He had been taking meds based on morning readings and had been taking 2 to 3 times a week.  He soon reduced that to a couple mornings a month and after a year or so of working on his food intake his doctor told him to take a reading once a month for history and only take the med if his number was seriously elevated.  The DR's point was, in your late 80's, TII was not going to do any damage since he had always had it under control.

At the age of 91 he had to get a new doctor.  The new guy told him that if my father hadn't told him he was TII he never would have known.  That did not mean he had it beat.  When he had some other health issues his BS would jump - as expected.  So under normal conditions he had it beat but it was still lurking in the background.

 

  

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