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Comment by wild_preference | Hacker News Reader

Type 2 diabetes can be reversed. Many people aren't seriously suggested this option by their medical professional or are unwilling to change their lifestyle.

I don't think it's a counterpoint to the study, but rather to the ways the data will drive policy changes.

It's taboo to take the obesity problem seriously. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fat_acceptance_movement

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>It's taboo to take the obesity problem seriously. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fat_acceptance_movement

It is phenomenal to see such a movement sprout up, as if a chunk of society decided to just give up. I couldn't imagine a serious, equivalent movement on the same scale for alcoholism and cigarette smoking, to cite a few examples. Yet the abuse of food is going to (or is already) cost us far more.

We pretty much have that with regards to marijuana. I'm not sure why it's treated so differently from tobacco. In both cases you are inhaling the smoke from burning leaves.

Not too many food related nicotine products compared to editables in the marijuana industry.

Tobacco is unusually nasty, just look at throat cancer from chewing tobacco. Incense, woodsmoke, and Pot do cause problems, but the risks are significantly lower.

Except when you're vaporizing it and there's no smoke.

Because you can vaporize it, turn it into oil and again vaporize it, bake it into food and eat it, etc. too. Even if you do smoke, a regular marijuana smoker consumes a lot less tar than a regular tobacco smoker since they need less plant product to get the desired effects. Plus, nicotine promotes cancer growth (but does not directly cause it) while THC may mildly inhibit cancer growth

I've never come across the Fat Acceptance Movement before, but it is something I've thought about. The issue seems to be equated with race and gender equality, rather than addiction, which I'm not entirely convinced by either. I don't think obesity 'denormalisation' is the answer, but I don't think we should close the door on saying a certain weight isn't healthy.

Type-II diabetes isn't caused just from being fat anyone can develop it. I have active, skinny, vegetable eating relatives with type-II diabetes. I avoided diabetes so far but I have hypothyroidism, you could say it's a related cousin disease in the endocrine family.

Endocrine system diseases need to be researched more and the general public needs more education on it. Sugar doesn't cause Type-I or Type-II diabetes as it seems many on the Internet believe. And being fat isn't the only way to develop Type II diabetes.

And as my mother says, "I'm not a diabetic, I'm a person who has a disease called diabetes."

I will absolutely believe that diet and obesity are not the only causes of Type II diabetes. And no, not all obese people are diabetic. But it is a primary factor in many cases. And if people who are obese would change their diet and lose weight, the rate of diabetes would likely plummet. I don't think anybody is suggesting that changing diet and reducing obesity is the only answer, but rather that it would make a huge difference.

I remember as a kid our family doctor straight up telling my parents that they were too fat and they needed to exercise and lose weight. I assume doctors still do this, as it's good health advice, but with "fat shaming" being a thing now, I'm sure that some are more hesitant.

> Type-II diabetes isn't caused just from being fat anyone can develop it.

60-80% of diabetes type II cases among westerners are assumed to be a consequence of obesity and related medical conditions.

It is correct that you don't have to be obese to get type-II, but being obese makes it much more likely.

Type 2 diabetes cannot be reversed - it can only be managed.

Pre-diabetes can be reversed but once you have diabetes, it's permanent - until we figure out how to regenerate beta cells in the pancreas.

Medically-supervised fasting has been shown to reverse T2D, even in patients who have been on insulin for decades. Beta cells seem to be able to regenerate themselves: https://insulinresistance.org/index.php/jir/article/view/31/...

Reverse diabetes, or just get people off of insulin?

Can someone who has had their diabetes "reversed" via fasting then get normal glucose responses after eating sugar?

The N=1 study you cited states that the subject still needs to take Metformin. i.e., he still has diabetes.

Downvote me all you want, but someone taking Metformin STILL HAS DIABETES.

Bariatric surgery has been shown to reverse diabetes.

http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/34/Supplement_2/S36...

>It has been over 10 years since the resolution of type 2 diabetes was observed as an additional outcome of surgical treatment of morbid obesity. Moreover, it has been shown unequivocally that diabetes-related morbidity and mortality have declined significantly postoperatively, and this improvement in diabetes control is long lasting.

This falls under "figuring out how to regenerate beta cells."

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