A groundbreaking study recently published in the journal Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice shows that combining a low-carb diet with ongoing telemedicine can significantly help people with type 2 diabetes (T2D) experience sustained improvement and reduced diabetes medication use. The five-year study examined the long-term effects of these approaches on patients’ health.

 Objectives and Methods

The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of a telemedicine intervention on patients with T2D to enable them to achieve nutritional ketosis by following a very low-carb diet. In the study, 194 participants with a body mass index (BMI) greater than 25 were recruited and divided into two groups: the continuous care group (CCI) and the usual care group (UC). The intervention was delivered online, without the need for in-person visits.

Key Findings

Reduced medication use: Diabetes medication use decreased from 85.2% to 71.3%, and the average daily insulin dose was significantly reduced. Improved health markers: 20% of participants experienced diabetes remission, with 32.5% achieving glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels below 6.5% without medication or with metformin alone. Weight loss and improved heart health: On average, participants lost 7.6% of their weight and their HDL cholesterol increased by 17.4%. Inflammatory markers such as hs-CRP also decreased by 43.6%. Benefits of sustained remission The study shows that remission is associated with significant health benefits in the long term. High blood sugar is associated with an increased risk of diabetes-related complications, and improvement in this area can improve patients’ quality of life. In this study, 57.6% of participants who achieved remission at two years maintained their remission at five years.

 Comparison with other studies

The remission rate in this study was much higher than other well-known lifestyle treatment trials, such as the Look AHEAD and DiRECT trials. While these trials reported remission rates of 7.3% and 13%, this study achieved a 20% remission rate at five years.

Strengths and limitations

 Strengths of this study include its long duration and broad applicability to people with T2D. However, limitations of this study include the lack of a comparison group over the entire five years and the limited racial diversity among participants.

 Conclusions

This study suggests that combining a low-carb diet with ongoing telehealth can lead to sustained remission in type 2 diabetes and reduce the need for medication. These results can be used as a basis for developing new and effective treatment programs for diabetic patients.

Source: news-medical.net