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Source: ONE News
People on the brink of developing diabetes who get a lot of
support and encouragement to diet and exercise can turn things
around and avoid the disease, US researchers said.
"Millions of people could delay diabetes for years and possibly
prevent the disease altogether if they lost a modest amount of
weight through diet and increased physical activity," said Dr
Griffin Rodgers, director of the National Institute of Diabetes and
Digestive and Kidney Disease.
In the United States, about 11% of adults - 24 million people -
have diabetes.
Most have type 2, the kind linked with a poor diet and lack of
exercise.
The 10-year study of overweight people with elevated blood sugar
who lost a modest amount of weight found they lowered their risk of
developing diabetes by at least a third.
People over 60 got even more dramatic results, cutting their risk
of diabetes during the study period by about half.
"People can lose weight, and this weight loss is accompanied by a
lowering of their rate of diabetes," said Dr William Knowler, who
works at the health agency, part of the National Institutes of
Health.
His study appears in the journal Lancet.
The findings follow up on a large randomized trial of 3,234
overweight or obese adults with elevated blood sugar.
Results of that study, reported in 2001, found a diet and exercise
program and support classes helped cut the risk of developing
diabetes by 58% after three years compared with a placebo
group.
The program consisted of reducing fat and calories and increasing
physical activity to 150 minutes a week.
Participants also got training in diet, exercise and behaviour
modification.
People in this group lost an average of 6.8 kg in the first year,
but they gradually regained all but about five pounds.
A second group who took the diabetes drug metformin also
succeeded in lowering their diabetes risk by 31% after three years
compared with placebo.
The latest results show what happened after 10 years of
follow-up.
Starting in 2002, study participants were offered the diet and
exercise program and support classes.
After 10 years, the group that started off in the diet and exercise
group has sustained a modest weight loss and cut their risk of
developing diabetes by 34%, compared with the group that started
out on a placebo.
