Diet and Exercise Dramatically Delay Type 2 Diabetes People can develop type 2 diabetes at any age. In type 2 diabetes, the pancreas does not make enough …
The following was adapted from National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive
and Kidney Diseases, August 8, 2001 press release,
http://wwwniddknihgov/welcome/releases/ 8_8_01htm, viewed on 2/25/03
Diet and Exercise Dramatically Delay Type 2 Diabetes
People can develop type 2 diabetes at any age In type 2 diabetes, the
pancreas does not make enough insulin, and the fat, muscle, or liver cells
do not use it properly At least 10 million Americans are at high risk for
type 2 diabetes which can have serious health consequences if untreated
Most common in adults, type 2 diabetes can develop at any age, even
childhood It is strongly associated with obesity more than 80 of the
people with type 2 diabetes are overweight, inactivity, family history of
diabetes, and racial or ethnic background Compared to whites, black
adults have a 60 higher rate of type 2 diabetes and Hispanic adults have a
90 higher rate The prevalence of type 2 diabetes has tripled in the last
30 years, and much of the increase is due to the dramatic upsurge in
obesity
Results from a major study bring good news about type 2 diabetes As
announced by HHS Secretary, Tommy G Thompson, at the National
Institutes
of Health, Americans at high risk for type 2 diabetes can sharply lower
their chances of getting the disease with diet and exercise In view of
the rapidly rising rates of obesity and diabetes in America, this good news
couldnt come at a better time, said Secretary Thompson So many of our
health problems can be avoided through diet, exercise and making sure we
take care of ourselves
The findings came from the Diabetes Prevention Program DPP This is a
major study that compared diet and exercise to drug treatment among 3,234
people with impaired glucose tolerance, a condition that often precedes
diabetes On the advice of the DPPs external data monitoring board, the
study ended a year early
Participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups, as shown below
| | | | |
| | | | Developed |
|Group |Interventi|Description |Diabetes |
| |on | | |
| | | | |
|1 |Lifestyle |Participants
received intensive |14 |
| |Interventi|training in diet, exercise most chose | |
| |on |walking, and behavior modification | |
| | |skills aimed at reducing weight by 7 | |
| | |through a low-fat diet and exercising | |
| | |for 150 minutes a week | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|2 |Metformin |Participants received treatment with |22 |
| | |the drug metformin 850 mg twice a day| |
| |Informatio|and received information on diet and | |
| |n |exercise | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|3 |Placebo |Participants received placebo pills, in|29 |
| |Informatio|place of metformin, and received | |
| |n
|information on diet and exercise | |
| | | | |
Those randomly assigned to the lifestyle intervention Group 1 maintained
their physical activity for 30 minutes per day, usually with walking or
other moderate intensity exercise, and lost 5-7 of their body weight
Group 1 had the fewest participants 14 develop diabetes during the three-
year study period The study also found that fewer participants who were
treated with the oral diabetes drug Metformin Group 2 developed diabetes
22 compared to the placebo group 29
DPP participants ranged from age 25 to 85 average 51 At the beginning
of the study, no participants had diabetes, but all were at high risk of
developing type 2 diabetes because they had impaired glucose tolerance and
were overweight Nearly half of the participants were from minority groups
who suffer more from type 2 diabetes: African Americans, Hispanic
Americans, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, and American Indians
The study also recruited other higher risk groups, including people over 60
and those with a close relative with Type 2 diabetes
Every year a person can live free
of diabetes means an added year of life
free of the pain, disability, and medical costs incurred by this disease,
said Dr Allen Spiegel, director of the National Institute of Diabetes and
Digestive and Kidney Diseases, which sponsored the DPP The DPP findings
represent a major step toward the goal of containing and ultimately
reversing the epidemic of type 2 diabetes in this country
Source:aafp.org
