Key points from article :
Over 37,000 people in Hong Kong with type 2 diabetes were studied, aged 18 to 75, between 2000 and 2017.
People achieving remission outside studies is rare, hovering around 6%, compared to nearly 90% in trials.
Support like weight management, monitoring, and encouragement could be key factors behind the higher success rates.
Outside of trials, physicians tend to be cautious about stopping diabetes medications, even when remission seems possible.
Some trials require only one healthy blood sugar reading for remission, while real-world settings often demand stricter criteria.
While half gained weight after diagnosis in the study, only weight changes during the first year were tracked, leaving long-term weight trends unclear.
Support found in clinical trials might be crucial for reversing type 2 diabetes, so exploring similar systems in real-world settings could be beneficial.
The analysis was carried out by researchers at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, published in PLOS Medicine journal.
