ABC Live- Weight gain may protect people with type 1 diabetes from premature death. According to a study done at the University Of Pittsburgh Graduate School Of Public Health on 655 patients with type 1 diabetes for 20 years, patients with type 1 diabetes who gained weight lived for a longer time in comparison to those who do not gain body fat, Study began in 1986 with the participants who were diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, when they were 28 years old and completed at the age of 44.
During the study period, researchers measured patients' body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference and assessed BMI every two years. Patients with the increased BMI were one-third less likely to die than those who had smaller increases in BMI.
According to Dr. Orchard professor of medicine and pediatrics at the University Of Pittsburgh School Of Medicine “Gaining a reasonable amount of weight may be a sign patients are getting enough insulin and appropriately controlling their disease, which may partly explain why those who gained weight over time had lower mortality rates."
Type 1 diabetes
Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease that results in the permanent destruction of insulin producing beta cells of the pancreas. Insulin controls sugar level in blood. Type 1 diabetes is usually diagnosed in children and young adults. It cannot be prevented by exercise or diet. It is typically treated with insulin replacement therapy.
