Down with the pills!
A low-calorie diet cured diabetics in a few weeks
Svetlana Maslova, Hi-tech+
Many participants in the experiment stopped taking medications for diabetes and hypertension from the first week and are still healthy. The scientists said that their work clearly demonstrates that stopping taking pills is not only safe, but also healthy.
Article by Leslie et al. Antihypertensive medication needs and blood pressure control with weight loss in the Diabetes Remission Clinical Trial (DiRECT) is published in the journal Diabetologia.
The key to achieving such impressive results was weight loss. British scientists from Newcastle University developed a special Direct weight management program, which included the consumption of 830 calories per day. Their goal was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of drug withdrawal in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus, subject to diet.
The experiment involved 143 people with diabetes mellitus, about half (78 people) of whom were also treated for hypertension. Of these, 44 patients took two or more drugs to control blood pressure.
The weight loss program lasted for 12 weeks and included a full, but low–calorie diet - no more than 800 calories per day.
Some participants managed to lose about 15 kg during this time. Medications for diabetes and hypertension were canceled from the very beginning and resumed only in some cases with an increase in sugar or blood pressure.
First, scientists found out that in most cases, blood pressure levels decreased as people lost weight. The effect persisted for two years of observation of the participants. A similar result was achieved in the management of diabetes mellitus.
"We have shown that with significant weight loss and support of this form in the future, patients can effectively control hypertension and diabetes without medication," commented study author Roy Taylor. – Today, doctors recommend starting taking medications, but there are so few examples that you can stop taking pills."
Observations showed that persistent remission of diabetes for at least two years remained in 53 participants who were able to keep fit. Among 78 participants who constantly took medications for hypertension, 65 were able to completely abandon them.
One of the participants in the experiment, a 68-year-old woman, Kathleen Breaux, said: "Sticking to 800 calories a day was difficult only for the first few days, and then I got used to it." As a result, she lost 15 kg of excess weight in three months of the experiment and completely stopped taking medications. It was the best thing I've ever done for my health, she added.
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