From January 1, 2024, Reverse Diabetes2 Om (KDO), the specialized combined lifestyle intervention (GLI) from the Nutrition Leeft Foundation, will be reimbursed from the basic package for every patient with (pre)diabetes.
For every patient with (pre)diabetes
From 2023, KDO will be reimbursed for people without diabetes medication or only using metformin. From next year, the reimbursement will apply to everyone with (pre)diabetes. This means that for the first time in the Netherlands, a lifestyle alternative – with medication reduction – for the regular treatment of type 2 diabetes is reimbursed on a large scale.
Taper off medication
It is the first GLI that is specifically aimed at reducing medication, in addition to sustainable lifestyle adjustment and behavioral change. To date, type 2 diabetes has mainly been treated with blood sugar-lowering medications, such as metformin and insulin. Thanks to KDO, many participants can reduce this: 67% of participants took less diabetes medication 2 years after the start of the program and 28% even stopped completely. In addition, the quality of life improves significantly and after 2 years there is an average weight loss of 7 kilos among the participants. In KDO, participants are guided by a dietician, a coach and a nurse.
Diabetes crisis
According to recent estimates, 1.3 billion people worldwide will have diabetes by 2050. That is a doubling of the current number. Approximately 90 percent of these cases concern type 2 diabetes, the form that is strongly related to an unhealthy lifestyle. The Diabetes Fund speaks of a “diabetes crisis”: ‘With a growing number of people with type 2 diabetes, we are heading for a diabetes crisis. Things have to change: from less medication to more healthy living, that is the only sustainable solution,” says Diena Halbertsma, director of the Diabetes Fund.
Source: Nutrition Lives
