Since reaching remission I feel that I can say something sensible on the topic of what remission and reversal are. I rely on Professor Roy Taylor’s definition that if you are below a 7 average glucose number for 3+ months which is roughly an A1c of 6, you’re non-diabetic. It doesn’t mean you’re cured. It does mean that you’ve recovered both liver and pancreas function, and that would imply at least a partial reversal of the condition. It certainly doesn’t imply that you can’t slide back into Type 2 Diabetes (TB2) either. Anyone in remission has a quicker path to TB2 than the average person without the illness. It is also likely that anyone in remission will have to modify their food intake in terms of kind and amount to maintain it. I can vouch for the fact that my diet was so bad I’m now frankly amazed that it took me 62 years to develop a full-blown case of it.
It is also clear to me that remission is a very individual thing. Some may only maintain it with a ketogenic diet, while others may find they can be more flexible. A lucky few may even find they’ve completely reversed the condition. Cured. Those are likely individuals who’ve only recently been diagnosed with TB2, or if they’re really lucky, they’ve reversed while still pre-diabetic. To me, reversal implies that you’re cured, and can now return to whatever bad habits you have, although as in the case of remission, doing so is likely to put you back to square one sooner rather than later. So in short, I think that both remission and reversal are possible, but that neither is unconditional. Someone in a post here suggested that remission requires 2 A1c tests to be official. That feels artificial. The lifespan of blood cells being 3-4 months long, a single test is going to determine if you’re non-diabetic or not. A second test period will only confirm or deny whether it’s been maintained. Two weeks into the Newcastle Diet my numbers were non-diabetic, but I was well aware that at that point an A1c test would give me the lie. According to Dr Robert Lustig, an expert in this field, 93% of people in America (and likely a number close to that in the UK) have metabolic illness associated with the dreadful diet associated with processed and ultra-processed foods. It seems those of us who are diabetic have a lot of company waiting in the wings.
It is also clear to me that remission is a very individual thing. Some may only maintain it with a ketogenic diet, while others may find they can be more flexible. A lucky few may even find they’ve completely reversed the condition. Cured. Those are likely individuals who’ve only recently been diagnosed with TB2, or if they’re really lucky, they’ve reversed while still pre-diabetic. To me, reversal implies that you’re cured, and can now return to whatever bad habits you have, although as in the case of remission, doing so is likely to put you back to square one sooner rather than later. So in short, I think that both remission and reversal are possible, but that neither is unconditional. Someone in a post here suggested that remission requires 2 A1c tests to be official. That feels artificial. The lifespan of blood cells being 3-4 months long, a single test is going to determine if you’re non-diabetic or not. A second test period will only confirm or deny whether it’s been maintained. Two weeks into the Newcastle Diet my numbers were non-diabetic, but I was well aware that at that point an A1c test would give me the lie. According to Dr Robert Lustig, an expert in this field, 93% of people in America (and likely a number close to that in the UK) have metabolic illness associated with the dreadful diet associated with processed and ultra-processed foods. It seems those of us who are diabetic have a lot of company waiting in the wings.
