Unfortunately, with increased obesity in the United States, more and more people are at risk for diabetes, and a cure for the disease does not yet exist. There is no magic pill that will fix the problem just yet and prevention is the best option for most people. The best way to avoid needing a cure for diabetes is managing your weight.

Keeping In Control

According to the National Institutes of Health (or NIH), a Body Mass Index (abbreviated as BMI) of 30 or higher indicates obesity in an individual. That means if you’re over your ideal weight by 30 pounds, you’re at a higher risk for developing diabetes. You can “cure” your weight issues but not diabetes itself.

Type 2 diabetes, or adult-onset diabetes, is often linked to obesity. Before becoming a full-blown diabetic, obese individuals will usually show warning signs and develop a condition known as insulin resistance. Insulin resistance occurs when the body still produces insulin but cells start failing to respond and refuse to take glucose into themselves to lower blood sugar levels.

Once in a prediabetic state, and even early on in the disease, it may be possible to reverse, or “cure” your diabetes through weight loss. The body is sometimes capable of bouncing back and going back to normal (or close to normal), but you will have to work closely with your physician to monitor the situation and determine whether or not you can stop taking insulin injections.

Type 1 Diabetes

Type 1 diabetes differs from adult-onset diabetes in that it is an inherited form of the disease in which the body simply does not produce insulin at all. It is also referred to as juvenile diabetes. Unfortunately, weight loss cannot reverse this form of the disease, and the only option available currently is insulin injections and monitoring.

Research into a cure for diabetes, both juvenile and adult-onset, continues. However, there are new delivery methods available (or on the horizon) as alternatives to insulin injection. Exubera is a form of inhaled insulin that some adult-onset diabetes sufferers can use instead of injections. Most people, including juvenile diabetes sufferers, will likely have to continue taking injections.

For the luckier patients, they can throw away their needle and literally breathe in their medication. Exubera works by being absorbed through the lungs, but the disadvantage to this method is that much of the insulin is wasted. That’s why in some cases patients will still have to take injections to regulate their glucose levels. Still, hopefully stem-cell research and research into transplantation of islet cells will one day lead to a cure for diabetes, but for now people will have to be patient and keep their hopes up.

Share This Page: