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-   -   Virta Health (http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?t=478789)

JEY100 Thu, Dec-28-17 09:24

Virta Health
 
Quote:
We’re kicking off 2018 with Dr. Phinney live on Facebook. Join us on January 4th at noon PST to get your questions answered on #nutritionalketosis, reversing #type2diabetes, and more. Register to get reminded ahead of time. Hope to see you there!


This notice came to me via Twitter (or maybe the Virta newsletter?) I am not a member, dont pay them anything, so assume this offer is open to anyone. I dont see the same notice on the blog...think the register button is on FB or Twitter.


Their blog has had many more posts this month...maybe gearing up for diet season?, more medical staff on board? but it has become a good source of information on diabetes and nutritional ketosis.

http://blog.virtahealth.com/category/tips-advice/


Previous thread on Virta Health is in Media with a misleading title. (sorry about that) Virta really needs its own thread here in Diabetes forum for on-going info.

http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthre...12&page=1&pp=15

JEY100 Thu, Jan-11-18 04:14

This show on The Doctors was first shown on TV in April.
"Can T2 Diabetes be Reversed? With Sami, Sarah and patient Jane.

https://www.thedoctorstv.com/articl...tes-be-reversed
Very well done and edited, only about 4 minutes.

Noticed her story on a tab for "Patient Voices" not seen before.

http://blog.virtahealth.com/jane-an...tbelt-extender/

Of course we all know here, that you can also do this without an expensive doctor in your pocket, but what a terrific story about getting on a plane.

cotonpal Thu, Jan-11-18 04:42

Quote:
Originally Posted by JEY100

Of course we all know here, that you can also do this without an expensive doctor in your pocket, but what a terrific story about getting on a plane.


There is so much benefit to being able to do this without a doctor, not just financial benefit but psychological benefit, knowing that you can take control of your own life. Following official governmental/medical advice is what got us into trouble. We need never have become sick in the first place if it wasn't for all the bad medical advice to eat a low fat high carb diet. I understand that many people won't go this do it yourself route but I for one like to assign doctors a role in my life when I need help with an acute problem and figure out the rest on my own. It seems to be working well for me and has been for many years.

Jean

GRB5111 Thu, Jan-11-18 11:54

Quote:
Originally Posted by JEY100
Of course we all know here, that you can also do this without an expensive doctor in your pocket, but what a terrific story about getting on a plane.


Quote:
Originally Posted by cotonpal
There is so much benefit to being able to do this without a doctor, not just financial benefit but psychological benefit, knowing that you can take control of your own life. Following official governmental/medical advice is what got us into trouble. We need never have become sick in the first place if it wasn't for all the bad medical advice to eat a low fat high carb diet. I understand that many people won't go this do it yourself route but I for one like to assign doctors a role in my life when I need help with an acute problem and figure out the rest on my own. It seems to be working well for me and has been for many years.

Jean


Hear, hear!

deirdra Thu, Jan-11-18 13:06

Well said, Jean. Even from my very first diet, I abhored the typical doctors' & nutritionists' diets that plotted out what to eat for each meal for a week or month - 1/4 apple + 1/4 cup cottage cheese, etc. - hunger, preferences and brown apple remnants molding in the fridge be damned. Many of the foods were my trigger foods or insulinogenic, promoting starving & binging, wrecking my metabolism and self-confidence more than being slightly chubby (which is where I started on the rollercoaster of "experts'" diets). I like a WOE that doesn't feel like a diet based on simple principles that I can tweak myself and live on for life.

Mintaka Mon, Jan-15-18 18:43

Thanks for posting this Janet! I have these saved for watching while I do my January fast.

JEY100 Wed, Feb-07-18 17:12

Finally! First time I have seen the long awaited one year results. Tweet link:

https://link.springer.com/article/1...3300-018-0373-9

Quote:
Plain Language Summary

Treatments for type 2 diabetes (T2D) have improved, yet T2D and being overweight are still significant public health concerns. Blood sugar in patients with T2D can improve quickly when patients eat significantly fewer dietary carbohydrates. However, this demands careful medicine management by doctors, and patients need support and frequent contact with health providers to sustain this way of living.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate if a new care model with very low dietary carbohydrate intake and continuous supervision by a health coach and doctor could safely lower HbA1c, weight and need for medicines after 1 year in adults with T2D. 262 adults with T2D volunteered to participate in this continuous care intervention (CCI) along with 87 adults with T2D receiving usual care (UC) from their doctors and diabetes education program. After 1 year, patients in the CCI, on average, lowered HbA1c from 7.6 to 6.3%, lost 12% of their body weight, and reduced diabetes medicine use. 94% of patients who were prescribed insulin reduced or stopped their insulin use, and sulfonylureas were eliminated in all patients. Participants in the UC group had no changes to HbA1c, weight or diabetes medicine use over the year.

These changes in CCI participants happened safely while dyslipidemia and markers of inflammation and liver function improved. This suggests the novel care model studied here using dietary carbohydrate restriction and continuous remote care can safely support adults with T2D to lower HbA1c, weight, and medicine use.


Later, more on the Virta Blog.

From Sami himself:

With Sustained Type 2 Diabetes Reversal, Management is Becoming a Thing of the Past

Article with Infographics, need to read at link, conclusion...
"We know we have a long way to go before we reach our goal of reversing type 2 diabetes in 100 million people. In the meantime, I think we can safely say goodbye to managing type 2 diabetes, and hello to reversing it."


https://blog.virtahealth.com/with-s...ng-of-the-past/

JEY100 Thu, Feb-08-18 04:00

Another good article on the blog, more detail than the summary above.

One Year Clinical Trial Outcomes Provide Evidence for Changing the Way We Care for Patients with Type 2 Diabetes

Check some of the outcomes after a year...medication use almost halved, IR reduced 55% (using HOMA-IR) weight reduced 12%, Hba1c down 1.3% and much more on chart of results.

https://blog.virtahealth.com/one-ye...ype-2-diabetes/

And PR announcement...

Virta Health’s Treatment for Sustained Type 2 Diabetes Reversal Provides New Hope for Chronic Disease Patients

Quote:
SAN FRANCISCO, California – February 7, 2018: Virta Health, the first company with a clinically-proven treatment to safely and sustainably reverse type 2 diabetes and other chronic metabolic diseases without the use of medications or surgery, today announced the peer-reviewed publication of 1-year results from its ongoing clinical trial, now 2.5 years in duration.

The study augments Virta Health’s existing body of peer-reviewed research, which proved that the Virta Treatment could systematically reverse type 2 diabetes in as little as 10 weeks. Newly released data demonstrates that diabetes reversal rates are sustained and in fact improved at one year, while metrics of other chronic conditions, such as obesity, blood pressure, cardiovascular disease and inflammation, are also substantially improved.

“What’s exciting about this new data is both the sustainability of the outcomes and the improvements in other comorbidities, such as high blood pressure, inflammation and heart disease,” said Sami Inkinen, CEO and Co-Founder of Virta Health. “I am more excited than ever about what this means for our current and future patients, not to mention the impact we can make on the economic burden of chronic disease as we scale towards our long-term goal of reversing type 2 diabetes in 100 million people by 2025.” By combining highly-individualized nutritional ketosis, medical supervision, and innovations in technology and artificial intelligence, the Virta Treatment helps people eliminate medications safely and sustainably while simultaneously lowering blood sugar and restoring metabolic health. Virta’s continuous remote care model—near real-time access to physicians and other clinical team members via a mobile device—reinvents diabetes treatment to allow for scale to millions of people. Enterprises, such as Virta customer Purdue University, are benefitting too by promoting a healthier workforce and experiencing significant savings for each employee receiving the Virta Treatment.

“Our approach is actually changing the diabetes care model,” said Dr. Sarah Hallberg, Virta Medical Director and principal investigator of the study. “With continuous remote care, we provide patients ongoing and immediate access to our clinical team, which is critical for both safe and effective reversal of type 2 diabetes, especially for patients taking medications.”

Key Study Findings

The study, published today in the peer-reviewed healthcare journal Diabetes Therapy, evaluates health outcomes after one year for 262 adults with diagnosed type 2 diabetes who received the Virta Treatment, and an additional 87 adults with type 2 diabetes who received usual care from their doctors and diabetes educators. Key findings of the Virta Treatment group at one year include:

60 percent of those completing one year had type 2 diabetes reversed (HbA1c < 6.5% while taking no glycemic control medications or only metformin).
83 percent remained enrolled in the trial.
94 percent of insulin users reduced or stopped usage altogether.
Participants experienced 1.3 percent average reduction in HbA1c (while reducing or eliminating medications).
Participants achieved 12 percent weight loss on average.
Usual care participants had no significant changes to HbA1c, weight or diabetes medicine use. With the Virta Treatment, however, results go beyond blood sugar and obesity reduction and included the following statistically significant changes:

24 percent decrease in triglycerides
18 percent increase in HDL-C (i.e. ‘good’ cholesterol)
39 percent decrease in C-reactive protein (a marker of inflammation)
Decrease in both systolic and diastolic blood pressure
“The continued improvement experienced by Virta Health patients, combined with the safety of the Virta Treatment, not only provides hope for those living with type 2 diabetes, but also for those with other chronic metabolic diseases,” said Dr. Ethan Weiss, Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of California San Francisco and a member of the Cardiovascular Research Institute (CVRI). “As a physician, I hear from my patients that they are desperate for ways improve their health. The Virta Treatment gives them the chance to actively reduce disease burden while also reducing medications. This is highly unusual.”


https://blog.virtahealth.com/virta-...sease-patients/

JEY100 Fri, Feb-09-18 05:58

DietDoctor has the links on study and table in one post.
https://www.dietdoctor.com/1-year-r...alth-keto-study

Gary Taubes tweet in response to results "Very impressive. I'm betting on Virta to change the world."

JEY100 Wed, Feb-14-18 06:15

A big change if it will reduce the spiraling costs of diabetes care for employers.

The Economic Benefits of Type 2 Diabetes Reversal

https://blog.virtahealth.com/the-ec...betes-reversal/


Quote:
In our own internal cost savings analysis, we estimate average employer savings of nearly $10,000 in the first 24 months for each person living with type 2 diabetes who enrolls in the Virta Treatment.

JEY100 Thu, Mar-01-18 04:25

An interview with Virta's head of research. More detail on what services their model provides, and an average timeline for removing/reducing diabetes medication.

Is Keto the cure for T2 Diabetes?
http://reason.com/blog/2018/02/28/i...ype-ii-diabetes

JLx Thu, Mar-01-18 07:41

This jumped out at me because some people, it seems, are trying to lower their A1c to less than 5, doing long fasts in some cases to achieve it, and perhaps thinking themselves failures if they stay on Metformin.

Quote:
Our definition for having reversed diabetes is that patients have glycemic control, which means they've lowered their hemoglobin A1C lower than 6.5, which is the diabetes threshold, without diabetes medications other than metformin.


This has been achievable for me without very low carb (and presumably ketosis), with some moderate fasting (less than 24 hrs). According to my last test at least; I've got another coming up in a April.

Before Dr. Fung, just eating low carb ("eat when you're hungry"), I used to eat too often. IIRC, Dr. Bernstein said to have at least 5 hrs between meals. If you also have 12 hrs between dinner and breakfast, something's got to give, so either 2 meals a day or one has to be something non-insulinogenic like broth or bulletproof coffee.

I think the drumbeat to "eat three small meals and 3 snacks to keep your blood sugar stable" that we've been hearing for years is especially horrible advice for diabetics.

khrussva Fri, Apr-06-18 21:48

Tomorrow I will be interviewed by staff of the Diabetes Remission Project as mentioned HERE a news story on Dietdoctor.com.

Searching around the web on the topic of diabetes remission I ran across this article on the ADA website regarding a 2014 study...

Quote:
Why did the researchers do this particular study?

The researchers wanted to learn more about how often diabetes remission happens and what factors might make it more or less likely.

Who was studied?

The study included more than 120,000 adults with type 2 diabetes who received medical care from a large health care system in northern California. The members of this health system are similar to the general population in terms of their racial and ethnic backgrounds and financial circumstances. None of the participants in the study had weight loss surgery.

How was the study done?

The researchers looked at 7 years of medical records of patients in the health care system who had diabetes and counted how many of them had partial, complete, or prolonged remission based on their A1C levels as defined by the ADA. They then looked to see if any specific traits were more common in people who had a remission.

What did the researchers find?

Over 7 years, 1.47 percent of the entire group had a partial remission, 0.14 percent had a complete remission, and 0.007 percent had a prolonged remission. Overall, 1.60 percent of the entire group (4.6 percent of those who had been diagnosed for less than 2 years) had some sort of remission. People who were older than 65 years of age, were African American, had been diagnosed for less than 2 years, had an A1C of less than 5.7 percent at the start of the study period, or were taking no diabetes medicines at the start of the study period were more likely to have a remission.

Type 2 Diabetes Remission Without Surgery Does Happen—But Very Rarely

FYI: There is a link to the study in question in the full article at the link above.

My A1c scores at my last 5 annual checkups:

March 2014: 6.7 (Diabetic) - June 2014 6.0 (pre-diabetic)
March 2015: 5.1 (Normal)
March 2016: 5.3 (Normal)
March 2017: 5.4 (Normal)
March 2018: 5.1 (Normal)

I guess that I would fall into the rare group of .14% that has shown complete remission. If I make it just a year or two more I'll qualify as an example of the extremely, ultra rare .007% who exhibit prolonged complete remission. Dang, I should buy a lottery ticket.

The "achieved remission" results of the Virta Health study blow those figures away. I saw that Dr. Sarah Hallberg posted the detailed results of the Year One results of their study as her submission to the food guidelines public comment request. Let's hope that those folks in DC are paying attention this year. The winds of change are a blowin'

JEY100 Thu, May-10-18 06:14

New Business Insider article on Virta, links to studies within.

A new health startup boldly claims to reverse diabetes without drugs, and Silicon Valley’s favorite diet is a big part of it

http://www.businessinsider.com/keto...p-claims-2018-5

bluesinger Thu, May-10-18 11:17

Wonder what those people would think if they knew the "Cure" was free? :lol:


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