For over a decade, the Greenbrier 61 years, Tennessee resident followed a strict regime to control your type 2 diabetes. Every day she herself gave six shots of insulin, took two different types of medicines and pricked his finger five times throughout the day to check their blood sugar levels.
But then two months after weight loss surgery and already 50 pounds lighter, his doctor told him that no longer needed insulin shots. A month later, she is no longer needed the pills either.
"All I have now is a multivitamin," says Jackson, who underwent a Lap-Band Surgery at Baptist Hospital here in December 2009. "This is it".
Diabetes rates have risen considerably in America. Approximately 26 million Americans — 8 per cent of the population — now have the disease.
While diabetes is technically considered incurable, Jackson and a growing number of patients have become symptom free. Some, like Jackson, has done so through weight loss surgery, although simple and old-fashioned diet and exercise work, too.
Although type 2 diabetes also has genetic factors, excess weight and lack of physical activity are believed to trigger the disease 58 percent of the time, according to the World Health Organization. Not everyone with type 2 diabetes are overweight, but 80 percent.
"It is possible to reverse diabetes or prevent it from occurring in the first place through weight loss and exercise," says Dr. Michael Floyd, associate professor of medicine at Meharry Medical College here. But he warns, "Diabetes is not curable, controllable. If you gain weight again, symptoms will return. I have had a patient that this happened. "
Dramatic improvement can be
With type 2 diabetes, the body is unable to use the insulin it produces. Insulin is a hormone that loads the sugar to cells, where it is converted into energy.
When sugar is unable to move within the cells, accumulates in the bloodstream and is converted into a variety of compounds, including fat, which eventually can cause circulatory constraints, leading to problems such as hypertension and loss of vision.
Floyd said obesity — especially abdominal obesity or belly fat — causes insulin resistance. That is why weight loss is beneficial. A study quoted in the journal of the American Medical Association found that diabetes was resolved or improved in 86% of patients who underwent surgery for weight loss.
Jackson says that in addition to the daily hassle of trying to manage your diabetes, your overall health has improved dramatically.
Diabetes had caused his vision blurred to the point where she needed glasses, and the nerves in his feet were so damaged that she had difficulty walking.
"They were just numb. I had no feeling, "says Jackson. "I stepped on glass and I didn't even know I had cut my feet".
Feeling returned to Jackson's feet, and his vision also returned to normal. Your optometrist said that she no longer needs glasses prescription.
"I knew if I lost weight it would help me get my sugar under control, but didn't expect to have this kind of results," says Jackson.
Small changes add up
The tablets that Brenda Morrow led to control your diabetes did feel worse than the disease itself.
"They gave me stomach pains," says Morrow. "It was like a stabbing pain."
Doctors told him that his blood sugar levels "were pushing for action stroke." However, Morrow, 60, of Nashville, Tennessee, was determined to leave the medication.
She began researching diabetes and discovered that weight loss and exercise could make a big difference. She replaced his daily breakfast of bacon, eggs and biscuits with oatmeal and cinnamon toast. Cut pasta and fried and processed food and instead ate more salads and cooked foods.
Through their efforts, Morrow lost 40 pounds and no longer takes medication that makes her feel ill.
"I still check my blood glucose three times per day, and is very well," says Morrow, which now weighs about 165 pounds.
Richard Pembridge, a diabetes nurse practitioner in Diabetes Baptist Center, also said that the exercise and weight loss can produce dramatic results, is a tough sell for many patients.
"It takes a lot of time and effort to lose weight, but a pill or shot immediately can affect your blood sugar," he says.
For those who are serious about wanting to lose weight, Pembridge says small behavior changes — such as cut out sodas and happening conducts regularly — over time can really make a difference. To maintain long-term weight, Pembridge encourages people to lose no more than a pound per week.
"Make achievable goals," he says. "Start small and build from there. Sometimes this means take only a short walk from home to the mailbox. "
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