The science behind type 2 diabetes remission

Summary

This 2018 video was the first in a short series on diabetes remission. Dr. Om uses a simple story from research in mice to explain why only some people with obesity develop type 2 diabetes.

Mice that are bred to feel no fullness and given unlimited food become obese and insulin resistant. Their pancreas works harder and makes more insulin to compensate. Some of these mice keep normal sugar for a long time, while others develop diabetes. The difference is how long their pancreas can keep up with the extra demand. People are similar: some develop diabetes at a modest weight, while others with much more weight do not.

The lesson is that type 2 diabetes is an imbalance between insulin resistance on one side and the pancreas’s ability to make insulin on the other. If the balance can be restored, sugar can return to the non-diabetic range without medicines, which doctors call remission. The most established way to do this is to lower insulin resistance through significant weight loss, especially soon after diagnosis.

Remission is not the same as a permanent end to diabetes, and regular check-ups are still needed. Read the full guide on whether diabetes can be reversed.