Diet and exercise best medicine in preventing diabetes

A large-scale study found that lifestyle changes are most effective at delaying the onset of type 2 diabetes, followed by metformin, now used in treatment.

By Susan J. Landers, AMNews staff. Aug. 27, 2001.

Washington -- Weight loss of 10 to 15 pounds and 30 minutes of brisk walking five days a week may be all that separates a patient who has type 2 diabetes from one who does not.

Results from a large, multisite clinical trial show that at least 10 million Americans now at high risk for type 2 diabetes -- by far the most prevalent type -- 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 couldn't come at a better time," said Dept. of Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson at the Aug. 8 unveiling of the study results.

Among those cheering the findings was Charles M. Clark Jr., MD, chair of the National Diabetes Education Program, and professor of medicine and pharmacology at Indiana University's Diabetes Research and Training Center in Indianapolis.

"Two things have happened with this study," Dr. Clark said. It proves the hypothesis that lifestyle changes are important and it shows that such changes can be made, he said.

"There is a twofold message for the primary care doctor, one that it works and two you can do it," he said. Dr. Clark was attending a meeting of the Diabetes Mellitus Interagency Coordinating Committee where the study's findings were detailed.

Dr. Clark recommended that physicians work within their communities to develop effective weight-loss and exercise programs at YMCAs or community centers.

The findings came from the Diabetes Prevention Program, a clinical trial with an ethnically and racially diverse group of 3,234 participants ranging in age from 25 to 85. [...]