Download our FREE guide — Top 10 Tips to Live Healthier: https://zoe.com/freeguide

In today’s episode, we’re talking about a disease so widespread it touches nearly every family in some way — type 2 diabetes. This is not just a health issue, it’s a rapidly expanding crisis. And many people don’t even know they have it.

In the US alone, 100 million face prediabetes, while over 37 million grapple with type 2 diabetes, a serious and chronic condition with life-altering consequences.

Professor Naveed Sattar joins us to shed light on preventing, treating, and potentially reversing type 2 diabetes. Naveed is a medical doctor and Professor of Metabolic Medicine at the Institute of Cardiovascular & Medical Sciences at the University of Glasgow. He’s one of the world’s top 1% most cited clinical scientists and has worked on many clinical trials of lifestyle changes and drugs to prevent and manage diabetes.

Find out your diabetes risk score:
If you are in the UK follow this link https://www.diabetes.org.uk/diabetes-the-basics/types-of-diabetes/type-2/diabetes-risk-factors
If you are in the US follow this link
https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/takethetest/

If you want to uncover the right foods for your body, head to joinzoe.com/podcast and get 10% off your personalised nutrition program.

Follow ZOE on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zoe/

Timecodes:
00:00 Introduction
01:00 Topic introduction
02:28 Quick fire questions
05:59 What is blood sugar and why does it matter?
07:45 What is insulin and what is its relation to blood sugar and diabetes?
09:32 Why doesn’t the body allow sugar to increase in the blood?
11:33 What happens when somebody gets pre-diabetes or type 2?
15:32 What is HBA1C?
18:12 Why has there been such an increase in diabetes?
24:28 How does muscle mass have any impact on diabetes?
26:38 Are risks different between men and women?
28:55 How does ethnicity come into this?
32:55 What other personal risk factors are there?
34:18 What are the symptoms of diabetes?
35:47 When do these symptoms begin?
37:00 What should you do if you have concerns?
38:22 How to find out your own likelihood of risk
40:37 How can we avoid getting diabetes?
44:15 How can we combat genetic risk factors?
46:44 Is it possible to lower blood sugar and reverse the effects of diabetes?
49:42 What is the science behind the new drugs coming on the market?
51:58 Summary
56:09 Goodbyes

Mentioned in today’s episode:

Primary care-led weight management for remission of type 2 diabetes (DiRECT): an open-label, cluster-randomised trial, published in The Lancet
Link: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29221645/

Books:
– Every Body Should Know This by Dr Federica Amati: https://amzn.to/4blJsLg
– Food For Life by Prof. Tim Spector: https://amzn.to/4amZinu

Episode transcripts are available here: https://joinzoe.com/learn/category/podcasts

Share on

Which tests can be used to diagnose type 2 diabetes? When should injectable medications for type 2 diabetes be started? These are just some of the questions clinicians may have when diagnosing and treating type 2 diabetes in adults. Author Rita Kalyani, MD, MHS, of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, discusses this and more with JAMA Senior Editor Karen Lasser, MD, MPH.

Related Content:

Diagnosis and Treatment of Type 2 Diabetes in Adults
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/10.1001/jama.2025.5956?utm_campaign=podcasts&utm_medium=social&utm_source=youtube&utm_content=public

Podcast was originally published on June 23, 2025.
https://edhub.ama-assn.org/jn-learning/audio-player/10.1001/jama.2025.7932?utm_campaign=podcasts&utm_medium=social&utm_source=youtube&utm_content=public

———————————————————————————
Follow JAMA Clinical Reviews on:

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4VOPuLXRs1cP8cNKw0kuc358Wpfm03Lk
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/jama-clinical-reviews-interviews/id1027430378
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/229VuDiWHzVc9S5OwBfLiY
Pocket Casts: https://pca.st/3ghw
Your podcast app of choice: https://pod.link/1027430378
Website: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/pages/jama-clinical-reviews

———————————————————————————
For more from JAMA
• https://www.jama.com
• https://www.facebook.com/JAMAJournal
• https://www.twitter.com/JAMA_Current
• https://www.linkedin.com/company/jamanetwork

Follow the JAMA Network
• https://www.jamanetwork.com
• http://www.jamanetworkaudio.com
• https://www.facebook.com/JAMANetwork
• https://www.twitter.com/JAMANetwork
• https://www.instagram.com/JAMANetwork
• https://www.pinterest.com/JAMANetwork

Share on