It’s a good day to climb back on my soapbox. It is World Diabetes Day.

Know Your Risk.

Type 2 Diabetes is preventable for many patients, and with proper treatment, can be put into remission (sometimes called “reversing diabetes” but remission is a little more accurate).Many of my patients are either at-risk of diabetes, have pre-diabetes, or have Type 2 diabetes – and the goal is ALWAYS prevention or remission.

This World Diabetes Day: know your risk. Some people who might be at risk include patients with polycystic ovarian syndrome, obesity, or a history of gestational diabetes are at increased risk. Those with a strong family history of diabetes may also be at risk. The only way to know is to get tested.

Patients don’t just need a one-off test though. Patients who have risk factors but do not have diabetes also need good healthcare and evidence-based interventions to prevent future diabetes.

Patients deserve and need access to properly qualified healthcare — not years-long waiting lists, not unqualified (not CORU registered) nutritionists, not off-shore Dial-A-Doc pill-mill services that reduce their health to a single number (BMI), not dangerous and predatory travel tourism to Turkey.

Patients need and deserve expert and compassionate in-person healthcare, including timely access to evidence-based preventative care, medications without restrictive or weight-stigmatising reimbursement schemes, and where indicated, surgery, which is the gold standard (and HIQA recommended!) treatment for Type 2 Diabetes associated with obesity.

I could talk for hours about Type 2 Diabetes prevention and remission. If you have questions, I’ll put up another post or short video. Put them in the comments or send them via DM or email the practice.