A 5-year assessment of the epidemiology and natural history of possible diabetes in remission

•Diabetes in remission is a widely discussed topic across the world, yet there is no consensus on its definition.•Durability of diabetes in remission is unknown.•There is little known about impact of diabetes in remission on micro-vascular complication of diabetes.•This study is one of the earliest attempts to try to explore the long term outcomes of diabetes in remission. Type 2 diabetes is considered a chronic and progressive disease. The term diabetes in remission has no consensus definition and the question whether diabetes “remission” or “cure” can achieve any long-term benefits in people with type 2 diabetes remains unclear. The aim of our study was a review of our district wide diabetes population to determine the epidemiology and clinical characteristics of those who had a diagnosis of diabetes but did not meet the diagnostic criteria for diabetes at the point of assessment in 2014 and then to review their diabetes outcomes over a 5-year time frame. In a whole population based non-interventional epidemiological study amongst 17,308 people with diabetes, we identified 991 with diet treated type 2 diabetes who met the baseline criteria for diabetes in remission (HbA1c