A study undertaken by LighterLife, the innovative weight loss and weight management company, shows that those who have type II diabetes could now reverse the condition by following Lighterlife Total — a commercially available very low calorie diet and weight management programme— which carries major implications for information to be given to newly diagnosed and existing patients, who should know they have a potentially reversible condition and not one that is inevitably progressive.
Diabetes in Ireland is growing rapidly, with an estimated 180,000 now people living with the condition, 50,000 of whom are undiagnosed. The predications for the future are even more staggering; by 2015 it is estimated that almost 290,000 people in Ireland will be living with diabetes, with almost 270,000 of those patients with the preventable type II diabetes. This means that 5.3 per cent of the Mayo population will contract type II diabetes by 2015, representing 5,607 local people.
Three hundred and fifty five type II diabetes sufferers completed 12 weeks on the Lighterlife Total programme, achieving an average excess weight loss of 46 per cent. As obesity is the primary cause of type II diabetes and achieving significant weight loss is difficult for diabetic individuals (who typically achieve 50 per cent less weight loss than their non-diabetic counterparts ) these findings are particularly compelling as the ability to lose weight has led to forcing the reversal of the condition as blood sugar levels return to a level that no longer requires medication.
Local Mayo LighterLife counsellor Margaret Fahy can be contacted on 087 141 1145.
