Diabetes is the sixth leading cause of death in the U.S. and is known to increase the risk for heart disease and other serious diseases. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 21 million Americans have diabetes, and over 95 percent of diabetics have type 2 diabetes. The number of people with type 2 diabetes in the U.S. has tripled in the past 30 years. Now research reports that type 2 diabetes can be prevented or delayed with healthy lifestyle changes including diet and exercise.
The study, published in the British Medical Journal, investigated the effectiveness of drugs or lifestyle changes to prevent or delay type 2 diabetes in people with impaired glucose tolerance. Researchers from the University of Leicester in England reviewed 17 clinical trials including 8,084 adults with impaired glucose tolerance. The studies were analyzed for the effects of diet and exercise, diabetes drugs, and anti-obesity drugs on men and women with impaired glucose tolerance.
The researchers found that participants who adopted lifestyles changes reduced the risk of developing diabetes by 49 percent, compared to those who received advice only. Diet alone was not as effective as exercise alone or exercise combined with diet. Participants who took oral diabetes drugs reduced the risk of developing diabetes by 30 percent and those who took anti-obesity drugs reduced the risk by 56 percent. Furthermore, diet and exercise lifestyle interventions were found to have significantly fewer side effects than those caused by drugs.
"Lifestyle and pharmacological interventions reduce the rate of progression to type 2 diabetes in people with impaired glucose tolerance," the study authors conclude. "Lifestyle interventions seem to be at least as effective as drug treatment."
REFERENCES:
1. Gillies CL et al. Pharmacological and lifestyle interventions to prevent or delay type 2 diabetes in people with impaired glucose tolerance: systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ 2007 Jan 19; [Epub ahead of print]
Posted by Elaine Gavalas on February 11, 2007 03:50 PM
