Can pancreatic function be restored

Most people only know that diabetes is a serious disease caused by high blood sugar levels in the body, but few people know that diabetes is actually a disease caused by imperfect insulin secretion. After suffering from diabetes, the patient's pancreas will be severely affected, and the normal function of the pancreas will not be able to function. During the recovery period of diabetic patients, can pancreatic function recover on its own?

Can pancreatic islet function be restored?

1. Whether pancreatic islet function can be restored depends on the degree of reversibility of pancreatic B cell function.

Whether the pancreatic islet function of patients with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes can be restored depends mainly on the degree of reversibility of pancreatic B cell function.

In 1997, Israeli experts used insulin pumps to intensively treat 12 newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes patients whose blood sugar levels were very high. As a result, 9 of them no longer needed to take any blood sugar-lowering drugs and their blood sugar levels were maintained at normal levels for 9 to 50 months. No medication was needed for an average of 3 years, and blood sugar levels were well controlled. In recent years, Chinese experts have also demonstrated that this treatment can restore normal first-phase insulin release in patients with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes.

2. Possible reasons for the reversal of pancreatic B cell function

Why is it possible for newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes patients to have their pancreatic B cell function reversed after intensive insulin therapy? Experts believe that under the pressure of high blood sugar, pancreatic B cells do not die, they just "close their eyes" temporarily. Although high blood sugar is highly toxic to them (such as long-term high concentration of glucose causes irreversible functional defects in B cells, medically known as "high glucose toxicity"), they are still tenaciously alive. Once intensive insulin therapy eliminates the harm caused by "high glucose toxicity", pancreatic B cells can be restored to a large extent.

3. How to measure pancreatic islet function

"Pancreatic islet function test" is generally divided into the following steps:

3.1. The test should be carried out between 7 and 11 a.m. Arrive at the hospital before 8:30 am and bring 10 ml of your first urine sample of the morning for testing.

3.2. Drink 250 ml of sugar water containing 75 g of glucose within 5 minutes after blood collection while sitting on an empty stomach. For some diabetics, in order to reduce the strong stimulation to B cells, they can eat about 2 liang (about 100 g) of steamed bread instead of glucose. The amount of glucose for pregnant women is 100 g. For children, it is calculated at 1.75 g/kg body weight, but the total amount shall not exceed 75 g.

3.3. Draw blood for blood sugar test 0.5 hour, 1 hour, 2 hours and 3 hours after eating. The insulin concentration in blood samples was measured in parallel with the routine oral glucose tolerance test. The glucose tolerance curve was drawn based on 5 blood glucose levels (the coordinate point when fasting was 0), and the pancreatic islet function curve was drawn based on 5 plasma insulin levels.

Several key points of diet therapy for diabetics

Control total calories

Under the guidance of a doctor, estimate the daily calorie requirements and reasonably arrange the proportions of the three major nutrients in food to effectively control blood sugar. The diet should be based on starchy foods as the basis of each meal (starch accounts for 55%-60% of calories), with appropriate amounts of protein foods (accounting for 15%-20% of calories) and fat (less than 25% of total calories). Apart from avoiding sweets, there are no foods that you can or cannot eat. The key is to control the amount you eat.

Combination of coarse and fine staple foods

Eating more whole grains and beans can not only reduce calorie intake but also improve nutritional value. You should not be partial or picky about food. It is advisable to eat small meals frequently, 5 meals a day, at regular times and in fixed quantities; eat a light diet and do not consume too much salt (limit 3-5 grams per day).

Eat more fresh vegetables

Such as celery, leek, winter melon, wild rice stem, cucumber, eggplant, rapeseed and cabbage, whose sugar content is less than 3%, it is okay to eat more (high volume). They are not only rich in vitamins and minerals, but also contain a lot of crude dietary fiber.

Control fat intake

To reduce cardiovascular and cerebrovascular complications in diabetic patients, fat should be controlled at 25% of total calories, and should be mainly composed of vegetable oils rich in unsaturated fatty acids, and animal oils such as butter and lard should be avoided. Hard-shell nuts and hard-shell snacks (such as sunflower seeds, peanuts and walnuts) should also be eaten less because they are high in calories. Cholesterol intake should also be controlled, especially for middle-aged and elderly diabetic patients with coronary heart disease and hyperlipidemia.