Type 2 diabetes is reversible under certain conditions, depending on a person’s lifestyle. Medications alone do not reverse it. If a person does not make healthy lifestyle changes, type 2 diabetes will progress, and they will eventually need more medications to manage it.
However, if someone engages in healthy lifestyle practices, such as eating a low-calorie diet and getting regular exercise, their diabetes may subside and go into remission.
People should also note that a prediabetes diagnosis does not necessarily mean that developing type 2 diabetes is inevitable. According to the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC), people can also reverse prediabetes by making lifestyle changes.
Type 2 diabetes is very common. The International Diabetes Federation reports that 463 million adults had the condition in 2019, resulting in 4.2 million deaths the same year.
That said, people with type 2 diabetes can do many things to control and manage the condition. A 2020 study notes that lifestyle practices may prevent type 2 diabetes but also have the potential to reverse it. This is also known as remission.
In fact, evidence supporting the value of such practices is so substantial that the study’s authors refer to them as “lifestyle medicine.”
What is ‘remission’? Remission is the preferred term for diabetes reversal. This is because a person’s type 2 diabetes can always return. When someone is in remission, their A1C has reduced to a level of less than 6.5%.
A1C reflects a person’s average blood sugar level for the most recent 2–3 months. Doctors use the A1C test to diagnose and monitor the progress of the condition.
Aside from the lower A1C, a person in remission no longer needs to take any diabetes medication.
