'I reversed diabetes with seven stone weight loss'

A man who once weighed 30 stone (190.5kg) says he has reversed his diabetes diagnosis less than a year after starting an NHS diet programme.

Luke Milner, 35, was told he had a 75% chance of a heart attack in the next five years if he did not make any changes to his lifestyle.

A father to two young children, Mr Milner, from Chesterfield in Derbyshire, said the prospect of having a heart attack at the age of 39 was a "shock to the system".

He started the NHS type 2 diabetes remission programme in September 2024 after being diagnosed earlier in the summer and has so far lost seven stone (44.5kg).

"It's just been a massive weight off my mind, knowing that I'm now able to live better, healthier, and possibly longer for my two kids as well," he said.

"When I think back to what I was doing before it shocks me, knowing that I could just eat the stuff I was eating and just not care.

"When I was 30 stone, I didn't want to go out of the house, I just struggled, I struggled to walk more than 10 minutes without getting out of breath."

Mr Milner, who said his mental health was "at an all time low" before his diagnosis, is one of 4,800 patients in the East Midlands who have been referred to the programme since its inception in 2020.

The 12-month regime - fully funded by the NHS - helps kickstart weight loss by providing patients with low calorie, diet replacement products, such as soups, shakes and bars, consisting of 800 to 900 calories a day, for the first three months.

Alongside this, participants also receive support and monitoring for a year, including help to re-introduce food after the initial 12-week period.

Mr Milner said that when he first started doing the programme, it took him an hour and a half to walk around his local park.

"I did it a couple of weeks ago with my kids, and we did it twice in 35 minutes so for me its helped improve my life to be able to go outside with my kids and actually do things with them," he added.

Type 2 diabetes is a common condition where the level of sugar in the blood becomes too high.

It happens if the body cannot make enough of, or cannot correctly use, a hormone called insulin, which controls blood sugar.

Some cases are linked to being overweight, and losing weight can reverse the entire process.

Type 1 diabetes, meanwhile, is an autoimmune disease that is not linked to being overweight.

Dr Azhar Farooqi, a GP at East Leicester Medical Practice, said: "What we are seeing in recent years is that more younger people are being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.

"Traditionally a disease that happened in middle age or in older people, now we're getting people in their 20s, even teenagers who are developing type 2 diabetes, and this is largely related to lifestyle changes and to obesity."

Mr Milner said he would not have been able to turn things around without the NHS programme.

He added: "Getting their expert advice and help, pushed me to my limits, don't get me wrong, but if I'd have done this all on my own I'd probably still be thirty stone now.

"This journey has completely changed my life. If I can inspire even one person to take that first step, it's all been worth it."

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