Pancreas restored under diabetes trial

Going into remission of type two diabetes through a lowcalorie, weight management programme can restore the pancreas to a normal size, a new study has suggested.

People with type twodiabet es have a pancreas that is around 20 to 30 p er cent smaller than people without the condition, and it is more irregular in shape.

Researchers say until their research it had not been clear if this was the cause of type two diabetes or a result of having the condition, or whether it is possible to restore the pancreas to a healthy size and shape.

DIRECT, a trial funded by charity Diabetes UK, indicates that more than a third (36 per cent) of people with type two diabetes who took part in the lowcalorie, weight manage - ment programme were still in remission two years later.

The researchers tracked changes in the panc reas es of 64 participants in the DIRECT trial. Using MRI scanners, they measured the volume, shape and amount of fat in the pancreases, and followed these changes over two years.

According to the study, researchers observed for the first time the size of the pancreas in people who were in remission for two years had increased by 20 percent– returning to almost normal size. They also saw that, along with a drop in the amount of fat in the pancreas, the very irregular borders of the pancreas returned to normal.