Can You Cure or Reverse Diabetes?

If you have diabetes or know someone who does, you know that treating it can really change one’s day-to-day life. While there are treatments to slow diabetes, there isn’t a cure yet. So managing diabetes often means taking daily medication over the course of a lifetime.

The good news? Thanks to a huge amount of current diabetes research, there are many new treatments on the horizon. And, for some people with Type 2 diabetes, it may be possible to go into remission. This doesn’t mean that your diabetes is cured. But it does mean your blood sugar has returned to a normal range. And that can help prevent a range of diabetes-related health conditions.

So, if you’re looking to curb the effects of diabetes and streamline how you manage your health, here’s a guide to current diabetes treatments and those that are closest to a cure.

Diabetes basics

Diabetes is a health condition where blood sugar (glucose) levels are too high. The body normally uses glucose as a good source of energy. But with diabetes, the body has a hard time balancing the energy it gets with the energy it needs. At the root of the problem is insulin, a hormone made in the pancreas. 

Normally, insulin helps the body move glucose from the bloodstream into the cells, where it’s used for energy. But in people with diabetes, the body doesn’t make enough insulin, or the body doesn’t use it very well. This means that too much glucose stays in the bloodstream — and not enough gets into the cells, tissues, and organs. Over time, high blood sugar can cause many different health issues.

Are there different types of diabetes?

Yes, there are several different types of diabetes. Here are the most common types of diabetes and what causes them:

• Type 1 diabetes: This is an autoimmune disease. The body becomes confused and attacks its insulin-producing cells. People with Type 1 diabetes need to take insulin for the rest of their lives. About 5% to 10% of people with diabetes have Type 1 diabetes. 

• Type 2 diabetes: This is when the body doesn’t react properly to insulin. Many people with this type of diabetes also don’t make enough insulin. About 90% to 95% of people with diabetes have Type 2 diabetes. 

• Prediabetes: This is when your blood sugar is too high to be healthy, but not high enough for you to be diagnosed with diabetes. It’s an early and potentially reversible type of Type 2 diabetes. 

• Gestational diabetes: This is when Type 2 diabetes happens during pregnancy. 

• Other types of diabetes: There are other types of diabetes related to cystic fibrosis or certain medications that raise blood sugar. 

Both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes are chronic (ongoing) health conditions. This means that once you’re diagnosed with diabetes, you’ll have it for the rest of your life. There’s no cure, but some people with diabetes are able to bring down their blood sugar to a range that isn’t considered diabetes. This is diabetes remission.

Let’s go through the two main types of diabetes (Type 1 and Type 2) and talk about where researchers are in the search for a cure. 

Is it possible to reverse or cure Type 1 diabetes?

There are no treatments to cure or reverse Type 1 diabetes. Here’s why: Type 1 diabetes happens when the body doesn’t make any insulin or makes very little of it. It’s an autoimmune disorder where the body’s immune system destroys the cells in the pancreas that make insulin. 

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This means that a cure for Type 1 diabetes would need to do two things:

• Stop the immune system from destroying more pancreas cells. 

• Replace the pancreas cells that have already been destroyed. 

While research is promising, there are no curative therapies for Type 1 diabetes — yet. For now, new medications and technologies are making diabetes easier to manage than ever before. Medications and diabetes devices — like glucometers, continuous glucose monitors (CGMs), and insulin pumps — can help to improve glucose values while lowering the burden of daily management. 

Will researchers ever find a cure for Type 1 diabetes? 

Researchers are working hard to find new therapies for diabetes. Hopefully, they’ll find a cure at some point. Here are some areas where a lot of research is being done:

• Pancreas cell transplants and regeneration: This transplants the parts of the pancreas that are damaged in Type 1 diabetes (islet cells). And it helps these cells to regrow. This is called islet cell transplant and regeneration. For people with Type 1 diabetes, it could someday be a treatment or even a cure. 

• Immunotherapy: Immunotherapy is another area of active research in Type 1 diabetes. This uses medications to treat the immune system and keep it from attacking the pancreas. Immunotherapy may end up working best in people who’ve recently been diagnosed with diabetes. 

• Gene therapy: Gene therapy is a type of treatment that changes certain genes in the body. And since diabetes is connected to genetics, a cure may be found in a genetic treatment. Scientists have been able to use it to cure diabetes in mice, and so the next step is to test this approach in humans. 

Can you reverse or cure Type 2 diabetes?

There’s no cure. For some people, though, it’s possible to go into remission (sometimes called “reversing” diabetes). Being in remission means that your blood sugars are in the normal range, even though you still technically have diabetes. 

Lifestyle changes, especially losing weight, may help some people with Type 2 diabetes go into remission. But keep in mind: Diabetes is caused by a combination of genetics, lifestyle, and environmental risk factors. You can change some of these things, but not all of them. 

Risk factors that you can’t control include:

• Pre-birth experiences: Diabetes risk can start as far back as development in pregnancy (metabolic programming). When a baby is exposed to malnutrition or high blood glucose levels during pregnancy, this can increase the risk of Type 2 diabetes later in life.

• Family history of trauma: Sometimes risk goes even further back. Epigenetics, or multigenerational stresses and experiences, can change the way genes are switched on or off, increasing the risk for chronic disease in your life and your family line. 

• Genetics: If diabetes runs in your family, you might also be more likely to have it. 

The following are all considered “reversible” risk factors for Type 2 diabetes:

• Excess body fat, especially around the abdominal area

• Eating a diet high in refined sugar and processed foods, and low in whole, unprocessed foods 

• Low levels of physical exercise

• High levels of stress

• A lack of regular, good-quality sleep

The best evidence points to weight loss as the number one factor that can help put diabetes into remission — either through diet changes or bariatric surgery (more on these below). Your chances for remission may also depend on how well your pancreas works and how long you’ve had diabetes. 

Can you reverse prediabetes?

Yes. It’s possible to reverse early Type 2 diabetes, or prediabetes. Prediabetes is when blood sugar is high but not high enough for a diabetes diagnosis. In some cases, prediabetes can lead to Type 2 diabetes. However, up to 1 in 3 people with prediabetes are able to reverse it by changing their diet, exercising, and (if necessary) losing weight. Research shows lifestyle strategies are most effective at reversing prediabetes — even more so than medication. 

Can nutrition and exercise help with Type 2 diabetes?

Yes. For some people with Type 2 diabetes, exercise, good nutrition, and weight loss can slow Type 2 diabetes or even reverse it. Not only that, it can improve (and even reverse) some health complications of diabetes, like kidney and eye problems. These changes work best when combined. They may also have the greatest effect in the first year. 

The Look AHEAD trial has the most evidence looking at the effect of an intensive lifestyle intervention program on health outcomes in Type 2 diabetes. The people in this trial all had Type 2 diabetes and a BMI (body mass index) over 25. They were randomly assigned to standard diabetes education or the intensive intervention program. The program involved calorie restriction through set meal plans, moderate-intensity physical activity (175 minutes per week), and weekly sessions with dietitians, behavioral psychologists, and exercise specialists. 

The Look AHEAD trial found that intensive lifestyle intervention resulted in: 

• Greater weight loss, especially at 1 year

• Smaller waist circumference

• Better blood glucose levels, especially in the first year

• Slight improvement in levels of LDL (low-density lipoprotein), the “bad” cholesterol

• Lower use of medications for diabetes, blood pressure, and cholesterol

• Less kidney damage 

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Written by:

Sophie Vergnaud, MD

Sophie Vergnaud, MD, is the Senior Medical Director for GoodRx Health. A pulmonologist and hospitalist, she practiced and taught clinical medicine at hospitals in London for a decade before entering a career in health education and technology.

Edited by:

Karla Robinson, MD

Karla Robinson, MD, is a medical editor for GoodRx. She is a licensed, board-certified family physician with almost 20 years of experience in health through varied clinical, administrative, and educational roles.

Reviewed by:

Frank Schwalbe, MD

Frank Schwalbe, MD, is an assistant professor of anesthesiology at the Yale School of Medicine. He has practiced anesthesiology for 30 years.

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