Dropping the Pounds to Shed Pancreas Fat Puts Type 2 Diabetes in Remission

New research is showing that there may be an effective method involving pancreas fat and the control of diabetes. A recent study found that if patients reduce the amount of this fat around and in these organs, it can make it possible for them to put their type 2 diabetes into remission.

Pancreas Fat Research

The research involved the participation of adults with type 2 diabetes. What it found was that if they lost 15 kilograms (33 pounds) of body weight and 0.5 kilograms (1.1 pounds) in the pancreas and liver, they may achieve sustainable remission. The research was a preliminary study and its findings were presented at the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists Annual Scientific and Clinical Congress.

Newcastle University professor of medicine and metabolism, Roy Taylor, M.D., from the United Kingdom presented the findings. There, he informed attendees regarding his “twin cycle hypothesis.” In this hypothesis, Taylor states that weight loss resulting from a low-calorie diet will normalize the pancreas’s first phase of insulin response.

Research into Type 2 Diabetes

Taylor explained that his hypothesis has two main parts. They are, in part, based on a number of studies conducted on adults with type 2 diabetes.

The first study had to do with weight loss having to do with reducing HbA1c levels.
The second study involved patients who had undergone bariatric surgery. In that case, those patients experienced normalized first phase insulin secretion. They also showed a “highly significant change” in their pancreas fat when compared to the patients in the study who did not have type 2 diabetes – the control group.

Taylor underscored that his findings are not yet ready to be applied to clinical practice. This remains an early study which is promising enough to warrant further study. Still, it is not large enough for doctors to start basing their recommendations on the findings.

Future Type 2 Diabetes Treatments

Though the concepts pinpointed in this study may not be ready for doctors to make prescriptions as of yet, after further study, it could lead down a path that will offer treatments in the future. “We haven’t gotten this perfectly right yet,” said Taylor. “There is so much more work to do in understanding how to achieve prevention of weight regain. Certainly, other behavioral interventions, certainly, perhaps, GLP-1 agonists, other agents could be used. All of that is to be explored because this is the start of a story, not the end of it.”