Around 22 million Americans have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, when a person’s body either does not produce enough insulin or doesn’t adequately use the insulin it produces.

Because of this, sugar builds up in a person’s blood. About 57 million more have pre-diabetes, when blood sugar levels are higher than normal but not yet high enough to be classified as diabetes, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Not only can diabetes put you at higher risk of heart disease, but not properly managing this condition may also lead to eye disease and chronic kidney failure.

Many people starting a medical weight loss program have or are at high risk for type 2 diabetes. That’s likely because adult-onset diabetes is very much related to someone’s weight. The good news? Losing weight can actually help to completely reverse a diabetes diagnosis. People who normalize their weight are often able to take less diabetes medication, or even to totally stop their medications and control their diabetes solely through diet.

Weight loss can also help to prevent the development of diabetes in people who are pre-diabetic. A National Institutes of Health study called the Diabetes Prevention Program looked at overweight people with an average BMI of 34 who had elevated blood sugar levels but had not yet developed diabetes itself. The researchers found that combining diet and exercise can reduce a person’s risk of developing diabetes by a whopping 58 percent.

The Medical Weight Loss Advantage Against Diabetes

Since medical weight loss doctors focus on a patient’s individual needs, they can work with each patient to develop a diet and exercise program that makes the most sense with his or her lifestyle, including adjusting prescriptions if needed. If you have diabetes, it’s especially important to see a doctor before you begin a weight loss program so that your medications, including insulin, can be adjusted appropriately. Since blood sugar will be lowered by weight loss, it could be dangerous to continue with your original medication doses because blood sugar could potentially be lowered too much.

Another issue for people with diabetes is that certain medications taken to control diabetes can actually lead to weight gain. Once medications are adjusted so that patients have an easier time losing weight, there’s a good possibility that the weight loss could help reduce their diabetes so much that they’re able to go off of their medications, or at least to keep their condition under control with lower doses.

For people with pre-diabetes, weight loss can not only help to prevent full-blown diabetes from developing, but can reduce blood pressure and lower heart disease risk, ensuring a healthier overall life.

Next Steps:

Back and joint pain: See how medical weight loss can help.
Learn how to avoid weight gain during menopause.
Find a center near you to schedule a consultation with a CMWL doctor.

Article Tags:

• health, medical weight loss, medications, type 2 diabetes, prediabetes, blood sugar, insulin