“Curing” and Preventing diabetes

This week I want to continue on the thought we started last week: the idea of either “curing” or preventing type 2 diabetes. I mentioned a while back that there was a huge research study completed a few years ago called the Diabetes Prevention Programme. This study answered a number of really important questions because the people involved were all at very high risk for developing diabetes in future, based on their blood test results, family history, being overweight etc.{{more}} Based on what was found from that research, these are my recommendations for either trying to get rid of your diabetes, or prevent it from developing:

1) Lose some weight! I know, I know, easier said than done. BUT IT CAN BE DONE AND YOU KNOW IT!!!! The amount of weight loss does not have to be huge in order to prevent diabetes or/and cause your blood sugars to drop. In fact the amount was about 7% of body weight in order to decrease chances of developing diabetes by almost 60%—it cuts your chances of having diabetes in 5 years by more than half!!! For the average person weighing between 150-200 pounds, that is 10-14 pounds weight loss. I am not asking you to lose 50 pounds, even though some of you may need to lose about that much to return to normal weight. But in terms of your blood sugars and preventing diabetes, the amount you need to lose is much lower.

2) Maximize your use of Metformin. Many of you who already have diabetes are taking a medication called Metformin. One of the things discovered during this Diabetes prevention Program was that people WITHOUT diabetes, who then take Metformin, could PREVENT developing diabetes in later years, by almost 40% decrease. That is huge!!! If I told you I had a pill to decrease your risk of dying by almost half, would you take it? Probably yes. This isn’t quite as impressive, but it is an astounding result nonetheless. So my first point is that for those of you at high risk for developing diabetes in future (you are overweight, have a family history of diabetes, had diabetes while pregnant etc), you should speak with your doctor about taking a low dose of Metformin in order to prevent full blown diabetes from occurring in future.

Second point about Metformin: this is one of the few diabetes medications that does not cause weight gain, and in fact can make you lose weight. Therefore, unless there is a very good reason why you cannot take this medication (discuss with your doctor please), you should be taking it and at a dose as high as you need and can tolerate. If you have diabetes, the standard dose of Metformin is between 1000mg-2000mg total per day. Taking 500mg of Metformin once daily does very little unless you do not have diabetes and are trying to prevent it. Diabetics need a higher dose. In my opinion, as long as it is safe for you to take, the use of Metformin should be maximized for Type 2 diabetics because it has great benefits in regard to weight control, and has wonderful research data to support its use. There are reasons why you may not be able to take Metformin, including kidney and heart disease, and if you have bothersome side effects (even after waiting a few weeks). This is not a simple decision, so you should speak at length with your doctor.

Until next week, stay safe and healthy, Vincies!!!

Anita Ramsetty, MD endodocs@endocrinehelp.com
Medical Director Endocrine Care Group
www.endocrinehelp.com
Tel: 843-798-4227