JoAnne Zoller Wagner's diagnosis as pre- diabetic wasn't enough to compel her to change her habits and lose 30 pounds. Not even with the knowledge her sister had died because of diabetes.
"I didn't have that sense of urgency," said the Pasadena, Md., woman.
But nine months later, doctors told Wagner her condition had worsened. She, too, had Type 2 diabetes.
That scared her into action.
Two years later, Wagner, 55, has slimmed down.
She exercises regularly and her blood sugar levels are back in the healthy, normal range. She was able to avoid diabetes medication.
Diabetics who manage to turn things around, getting their blood sugar under control, either escaping the need for drugs or improving enough to quit taking them, are drawing keen interest from the medical community.
This summer an American Diabetes Association task force will focus on this group of patients and whether they can be considered "cured."
Among the points of interest:
What blood sugar range qualifies as a cure and how long would it have to be maintained?
How might blood pressure and cholesterol, both linked to diabetes, figure into the equation?
And what if a "cured" diabetic's blood sugar soars again?
"For right now, we're not saying they're cured, but the bottom line is ... good glucose control, less infections," said Sue McLaughlin, president of health care and education for the American Diabetes Association.
The organization has no estimate of how many people fall into that category.
Being overweight is the leading risk for Type 2 diabetes. Genetics also plays a role, and blacks, Hispanics and American Indians are at greater risk than whites.
Nearly 57 million Americans are pre-diabetic. Another 18 million have been diagnosed with diabetes, while the diabetes association estimates almost 6 million more Americans have diabetes and don't know it. About 90 to 95 percent of diabetics have Type 2, the kind linked to obesity.
But the news isn't all bad. Thirty minutes of daily exercise and a 5 to 10 percent loss in body weight can lower the odds of diabetes by nearly 60 percent and is more effective than medicine in delaying its onset, according to a diabetes prevention study.
Still, such lifestyle changes are often difficult.
"It sounds like such a nonmedical recommendation, and yet it's the thing people say is the toughest to implement," said McLaughlin, the diabetes association official.
For Wagner, it meant changing not just her diet, but her lifestyle. A teacher, she now cooks most of her meals at home and avoids the sweets in the school lounge.
Many doctors stop short of calling successful patients cured.
Dr. Philipp Scherer, director of the diabetes research center at University of Texas Southwestern, describes diabetes as a one-way road. He said it can be stopped in its tracks with diet and exercise, but there's no turning back.
Doctors say that, for some diabetics, lowering blood sugar may be only temporary. Stress, weight gain and other factors can push it back to unhealthy levels.
"I didn't have that sense of urgency," said the Pasadena, Md., woman.
That scared her into action.
Two years later, Wagner, 55, has slimmed down.
She exercises regularly and her blood sugar levels are back in the healthy, normal range. She was able to avoid diabetes medication.
Diabetics who manage to turn things around, getting their blood sugar under control, either escaping the need for drugs or improving enough to quit taking them, are drawing keen interest from the medical community.
This summer an American Diabetes Association task force will focus on this group of patients and whether they can be considered "cured."
Among the points of interest:
What blood sugar range qualifies as a cure and how long would it have to be maintained?
How might blood pressure and cholesterol, both linked to diabetes, figure into the equation?
And what if a "cured" diabetic's blood sugar soars again?
"For right now, we're not saying they're cured, but the bottom line is ... good glucose control, less infections," said Sue McLaughlin, president of health care and education for the American Diabetes Association.
The organization has no estimate of how many people fall into that category.
Being overweight is the leading risk for Type 2 diabetes. Genetics also plays a role, and blacks, Hispanics and American Indians are at greater risk than whites.
Nearly 57 million Americans are pre-diabetic. Another 18 million have been diagnosed with diabetes, while the diabetes association estimates almost 6 million more Americans have diabetes and don't know it. About 90 to 95 percent of diabetics have Type 2, the kind linked to obesity.
But the news isn't all bad. Thirty minutes of daily exercise and a 5 to 10 percent loss in body weight can lower the odds of diabetes by nearly 60 percent and is more effective than medicine in delaying its onset, according to a diabetes prevention study.
Still, such lifestyle changes are often difficult.
"It sounds like such a nonmedical recommendation, and yet it's the thing people say is the toughest to implement," said McLaughlin, the diabetes association official.
For Wagner, it meant changing not just her diet, but her lifestyle. A teacher, she now cooks most of her meals at home and avoids the sweets in the school lounge.
Many doctors stop short of calling successful patients cured.
Dr. Philipp Scherer, director of the diabetes research center at University of Texas Southwestern, describes diabetes as a one-way road. He said it can be stopped in its tracks with diet and exercise, but there's no turning back.
Doctors say that, for some diabetics, lowering blood sugar may be only temporary. Stress, weight gain and other factors can push it back to unhealthy levels.
