Diet and Exercise Best Options For Preventing Diabetes

For type 2 diabetes prevention, diet and exercise interventions remain the most beneficial option, according to a recent study.

“Effective prevention is needed to combat the worldwide epidemic of type 2 diabetes. We investigated the long-term extent of beneficial effects of lifestyle intervention and metformin on diabetes prevention, originally shown during the 3-year Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP), and assessed whether these interventions reduced diabetes-associated microvascular complications,” explained the study’s authors.
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Researchers conducted a long-term follow-up of 2776 participants randomized to receive diet and exercise intervention, metformin, or a placebo from the original DPP trial in the Diabetes Prevention Program Outcomes Study.

During the 15-year follow-up, diabetes incidence decreased by 27% in the diet and exercise group and 18% in the metformin group, compared to the placebo group.

By the 15-year mark, cumulative diabetes incidences were 55% for the diet and exercise group, 56% for the metformin intervention, and 62% in those taking placebos.

Further, researchers observed that the 1887 women in the diet and exercise intervention showed reduced risk for microvascular complications by 21% compared to metformin and 22% compared to placebo, and participants who did not develop diabetes showed a 28% decreased prevalence of microvascular complications compared to those who manifested diabetes.

“Lifestyle intervention or metformin significantly reduced diabetes development over 15 years. There were no overall differences in the aggregate microvascular outcome between treatment groups; however, those who did not develop diabetes had a lower prevalence of microvascular complications than those who did develop diabetes. This result supports the importance of diabetes prevention.”

The complete study is published in the September issue of The Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology.

-Michelle Canales Butcher

Reference:
Diabetes Prevention Program Research Group. Long-term effects of lifestyle intervention or metformin on diabetes development and microvascular complications over 15-year follow-up: the Diabetes Prevention Program Outcomes Study. Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol. 2015 September [epub ahead of print]. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S2213-8587(15)00291-0.