Evidence is mounting that lifestyle and nutritional support can help Type 2 diabetes patients return their blood sugar to back to normal.
What: Diabetes Dialogue: A Fireside Chat–Perspectives on Type 2 Diabetes Remission
When: Thursday, June 18, 7 to 8 pm
Where: Trinity Baptist Church, Kelowna
Cost: Free; registration required
For decades, a Type 2 diabetes diagnosis came with a hard message: the condition is chronic, progressive and lifelong.
UBC Okanagan researcher Dr. Jonathan Little has spent the last 10 years conducting research to challenge that assumption. On Thursday, June 18, he and a panel of clinicians and patients will talk with Okanagan residents about who remission may help, common misconceptions and what the future holds for remission practices in BC.
“For years, people diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes were told it was a lifelong, progressive condition,” says Dr. Little, a professor in UBCO’s Faculty of Health and Social Development and investigator in the Southern Medical Program’s Centre for Chronic Disease Prevention and Management. “Today, we know that some people can achieve remission through lifestyle changes or bariatric surgery. That message brings hope and opens new conversations about what diabetes care can look like.”
Diabetes Dialogue is a free in-person event hosted by UBCO’s Exercise, Metabolism and Inflammation Lab. It will pair the latest science on diabetes remission with the perspectives of a physician, pharmacist, dietitian and a person who has lived it. The format is a fireside chat followed by open discussion, with attendees encouraged to ask questions and join the conversation.
The panel bring together perspectives from research, medicine, pharmacy, nutrition and lived experience:
- Dr. Little, professor and researcher, UBC Okanagan
- Dr. Sarah McCorquodale, physician, UBC Faculty of Medicine
- Lysa Leong, pharmacist
- Celeste Lavallée, registered dietitian
- Will Autio, who has lived experience with remission approaches
The stakes are significant. More than 90 per cent of diabetes diagnoses in Canada are Type 2, and a growing body of evidence, including UBCO clinical trials, shows that with medical and nutritional support, many patients can bring their blood sugar back to normal and may be able to stop using glucose-lowering medication.
Dr. Little is a UBCO Principal’s Research Chair in Metabolism and helped write Diabetes Canada’s clinical practice guidelines on remission. He’s also built one of the few labs in Canada that can study diabetes remissions from the molecular level through to community-based research.
“At this fireside chat, we’re bringing together research, clinical insight and lived experience—including exciting work being done right here at UBCO—to explore what Type 2 diabetes remission means for our community,” Dr. Little says.
