Type 2 diabetes: how a father of two put his diabetes into remission

Type 2 diabetes is a condition in which the body can’t control the amount of glucose in the blood. The body doesn’t respond to insulin properly and may not produce enough. This causes a

person’s blood glucose level to become too high. If blood sugar stays too high and the condition is left untreated, a number of dangerous health complications could ensue, including kidney

failure, nerve damage and heart disease. But father-of-two, Joe Paterson from Stockport managed to reverse his type 2 diabetes. “I had always dodged the diabetic bullet, so to speak. That

was before I was diagnosed with the condition. I still didn’t do anything about my weight and my health was deteriorating; I was getting bigger," said Joe. "On January 8 this year,

that’s when things started to change for me. I wanted to live longer and to see my girls grow up. "It was eye-opening and having said it, I knew I had to do something. What really

brought it home was the weigh-in. "At 22st 12lbs, I was two pounds short of what my dad had been when he was at his heaviest, something which affected his health in later life. I didn’t

want history repeating itself.” DON’T MISS HOW JOE LOST THE WEIGHT AND PUT HIS TYPE 2 DIABETES INTO REMISSION Joe embarked on the 1:1 Diet by Cambridge Weight Plan. The 1:1 Diet, originally

known as the Cambridge Diet was launched in the UK in 1984 and has helped more than 30 million people worldwide lose weight and reduce their health risks. The diet works as a meal

replacement diet in which 415 to 1,500 calories consumed daily through a combination of meal replacement bars, smoothies, shakes and soups. Joe lost a total of five stone and couldn’t

believe the positive effect the diet plan was having on not only his life, but his health too. “The biggest achievement was, of course, reversing my diabetes. It was such a relief,” he

divulged. A pilot scheme was launched last year by the NHS where thousands of people with type 2 diabetes were prescribed a very low-calorie diet in the hope of reversing the condition. NHS

England has also announced it’s expanding a programme to prevent people developing type 2 diabetes. Dr Shareen Forbes, reader in diabetes and endocrinology at the University of Edinburgh,

said: "There are now a number of studies that demonstrate remission of type 2 diabetes with weight loss. "Such interventions can have significant economic impacts given the levels

of type 2 diabetes now in society.”