Weight loss can improve or reverse type 2 diabetes

From reuters.com/business

The more weight people with type 2 diabetes lose, the greater the odds that the disease will go partially or even completely into remission, according to a new analysis published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology

Reviewing 22 earlier randomized trials testing weight loss interventions in overweight or obese patients with type 2 diabetes, researchers found complete remission of the disease in half of those who lost 20% to 29% of their body weight. Nearly 80% of patients who lost 30% of body weight no longer appeared to have diabetes.

That means their haemoglobin A1c levels – a standard measure reflecting average blood sugar levels over the past few months – or their fasting blood sugar levels had returned to normal without use of any diabetes medications.

No one who lost less than 20% of their body weight achieved a complete remission, but some were in partial remission, with hemoglobin A1c and fasting glucose levels returning almost to normal.

Partial remission was seen in roughly 5% of those who lost less than 10% of their body weight, and that percentage rose steadily with greater weight loss, reaching nearly 90% among those who lost at least 30%.

Overall, for every 1 percentage point decrease in body weight, the probability of reaching complete remission increased by roughly 2 percentage points and the probability of reaching partial remission increased by roughly 3 percentage points, regardless of age, sex, race, diabetes duration, blood sugar control, or type of weight loss intervention.

Type 2 diabetes accounts for 96% of all diagnosed cases of diabetes, and more than 85% of adults with the disease are overweight or obese, the researchers noted.

“The recent development of effective weight loss medications, if made accessible to all who could benefit, could play a pivotal role” in reducing the prevalence of diabetes and its complications, the researchers said.

https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/health-rounds-weight-loss-can-improve-or-reverse-type-2-diabetes-2025-02-28/