Dr Lim, who graduated from Newcastle University Medical School in 2000 and completed her specialty training in Endocrinology and Diabetes earlier this year, carried out the study as part of her postgraduate doctoral degree is working with the team led by Professor Roy Taylor.
“To have people free of diabetes after years with the condition is remarkable and all because of an eight week diet, which also regains the body’s ability to make insulin, ” said Dr. Lim.
Currently an estimated 1.4 million Malaysians, or one in six adults above the age of 30, have diabetes. Of those, 98% have Type 2 diabetes, which is a long-term condition caused by too much glucose – a type of sugar – in the blood.
In an early stage clinical trial of 11 people, all reversed their diabetes by drastically cutting their food intake to just 600 calories a day for two months and three months later, seven remained free of diabetes.
“This is a radical change in understanding Type 2 diabetes. It will change how we can explain it to people newly diagnosed with the condition. While it has long been believed that someone with Type 2 diabetes will always have the disease and that it will steadily get worse, we have shown that we can now reverse the condition,” said Dr. Lim.
Traditionally, it had been thought that as a progressive condition, Type 2 diabetes can be controlled by diet initially then tablets, but would eventually require insulin injections; and the findings of the Newcastle University team now provides a news perspective to treating it.
Type 2 diabetes, which was once known as adult-onset diabetes, is now also found in young adults and children as a result of the pancreas not producing enough insulin to break down excessive glucose or due to the body not reacting to the hormone, known as insulin sensitivity.
Gem Two observations:
1. Diabetes in children and young adults is Type 1.
2. A sample size of 11 patients seems rather small for the results to be conclusive.