Reversing Type 2 Diabetes... And Creating A New Healthcare System

UK Labour Party's deputy leader Tom Watson has made news recently. He revealed that he had type 2 diabetes but has reversed it through diet and exercise. This is not necessarily new to those promote lifestyle approaches but it highlights what we can do for population health.

Reversing Type 2 Diabetes

For some reason the US healthcare system focuses on “treating” type 2 diabetes. There are enormous markets for insulin and pumps and monitors, etc. However, we rarely hear about reversing type 2 diabetes. It is certainly possible but it takes a Lifestyle approach, not a conventional medical approach.

Reversing type 2 diabetes may well be a textbook case where the US healthcare payer system is a major cause of the problem. Historically, healthcare dollars went for conventional treatments where evidence-based medicine excelled like trauma and infectious diseases. Unfortunately, that payment system has carried over into our modern lives where we face an epidemic of chronic illnesses that are not responsive to medical treatment. 

These chronic diseases are from stress-filled, fast-paced lifestyles where we inhale so-called food most of our grandmothers would not recognize and argue intensely with people on social media while ignoring the family and friends across the table. Treating chronic illnesses with conventional medicine alone is the equivalent of putting a splint on a football player’s broken arm and sending him back into the game. Unfortunately, we do not have backups to step into our lives while we get proper healing. Luckily, there is a better approach.

The Answer?

Some, like UK Labour Party’s Tom Watson, have the means and support for reversing type 2 diabetes through lifestyle changes in diet and exercise. Many other people could benefit as well but we must change the funding and healthcare approach models. If we use healthcare dollars only to reimburse medical treatments… we will continue to see an epidemic of type 2 diabetes and other chronic diseases.

If we approach health issues more holistically and include Lifestyle as part of the paid treatment:

• more patients will reverse their type 2 diabetes,
• more physicians will feel like they are part of a solution and not just pushing pills in 10-minute visits,
• more social workers, nutritionists, health coaches, massage therapists, acupuncturists, etc. will be recognized and paid for their roles in healthcare.

And perhaps most importantly, the vicious cycle of co-morbidity among chronic diseases will turn into a virtuous cycle where reversing type 2 diabetes will promote Lifestyle changes that avoid heart disease, some cancers, and more.

Be Well! 

-Tim

Tim Perry, MPA, MS, CPHIMS, CISSP is the Chief Information Officer of Consumer Health platform HealthCareToo.com. Tim has a deep passion for transforming and improving healthcare that spans two decades. He is blessed with a wonderful wife and two inspiring children. Tim has practiced Tai Chi (Taiji Chuan) for over 15 years and enjoys cooking wholesome (and easy) meals.

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Why Patient Engagement Is So Hard: and why it won't change anything

Healthcare Is A Team Sport-- an IT Perspective

A Quick History of the US Healthcare System: How Not To Repeat It (written w/ Microsoft Sway)

The Future of Healthcare Is In The Past