

Now nothing is standing in my way,” said Austen McDonald, as the first beneficiary of what Diabetes Canada describes as a ground-breaking change in policy. “The risks associated with a person with insulin-dependent diabetes piloting a plane must be assessed on a case-by-case basis, and we commend this important action by Transport Canada in now considering all pilots with diabetes, regardless of age of onset.”Īusten McDonald could not be happier. Jan Hux, president and CEO of Diabetes Canada. “Diabetes Canada is pleased to see that this last barrier to Canadians with diabetes applying to become commercial pilots has been removed,” said Dr.
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“There was no medical justification for preventing people with diabetes from applying for the certificate needed to get their commercial pilot license when hundreds of people who were already pilots when they developed diabetes continue to fly safely.”Ĭanada’s safety record and the McDonalds’ advocacy – supported by Diabetes Canada – encouraged Transport Canada to reconsider and ultimately amend their practices.
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Peter Senior, endocrinologist at the University of Alberta and chair of Diabetes Canada’s Professional Section. “There’s really no way to judge the ability of an individual to control their blood sugar based only on the age at which they developed diabetes,” saiod Dr. It really made no sense to us.”Ĭanada has been a world-leader for over 15 years in allowing commercial pilots to continue flying while taking insulin for their diabetes, explains Diabetes Canada, and has amassed thousands of hours of flying time without any diabetes-related safety incidents. “But no one who already was on insulin could do the same. DPCP works with accredited Diabetes Self-Management (DSME) programs of the American Association of Diabetes Educators and the American Diabetes Association, the Executive Office of Aging, the National Kidney Foundation, and other partners to promote quality healthcare that addresses type 2 diabetes in the community. Our research into diabetes remissionĪ study we’ve funded called DiRECT looked into the remission of type 2 diabetes by following a low-calorie diet weight management programme. Find out more about the study and keep up to date with our remission research.“Up until now, pilots who already had their commercial license when they became insulin-dependent could apply for a medical certificate to keep flying,” said Ed McDonald. If you’re trying to lose extra weight, or aiming towards remission, we’d love to hear from you. We’ve got lots of information, meal plans and recipes to help you find the best approach for you. We do know that some people have put their diabetes into remission by losing weight through following the Mediterranean diet or a low-carb diet. There are a lot of different ways to lose weight – but there’s no one-size-fits-all diet. There is no such thing as a special diet for people with diabetes or those aiming or diabetes reversal. Some people have lost a substantial amount of weight and put their diabetes into remission through lifestyle and diet changes or by having weight loss surgery (called bariatric surgery). Research shows that getting support to lose just 5% of your body weight can have huge benefits for your health. But losing 15kg comes with a lot of health benefits, even if you don’t lead to remission. It’s important to know that not everyone who loses this much weight will be able to put their diabetes into remission. If you have obesity, your diabetes is more likely to go into remission if you lose a substantial amount of weight – 15kg (or 2 stone 5lbs) – as quickly and safely as possible following diagnosis. However, we do know of people who have put their diabetes into remission 25 years after diagnosis. Remission is more likely if you lose weight as soon as possible after your diabetes diagnosis. The strongest evidence we have at the moment suggests that type 2 diabetes is mainly put into remission by weight loss. This is when your blood sugar levels are below the diabetes range and you don’t need to take diabetes medication anymore. We don’t call it diabetes reversal, because this might sound like it's permanent, and there’s no guarantee that your diabetes has gone forever.īut yes, it may be possible to put your type 2 diabetes into remission.
