Diabetes is one of the most common lifestyle diseases affecting millions of people across the world. A lifestyle change might prove very useful in managing the disease, and new research shows that some lifestyle changes may also help prevent the disease.
Researchers have been actively involved in diabetes research for decades, especially in the Norfolk Diabetes Prevention Study (NDPS). The latter is the most extensive diabetes research study globally, out of all diabetes studies in the last 30 years. The research lasted eight years, and it evaluated more than 1,000 people at risk of type 2 diabetes.
According to the NDPS study, prediabetes individuals at high risk of contracting diabetes can slash their risk of catching the disease by improving their physical activities and dietary changes. The study findings suggest that shedding weight by 2 to 3 kilograms while maintaining decent physical activity levels reduces type 2 diabetes risks by roughly 40 to 47 percent in prediabetes individuals.
What is prediabetes, and what do the study findings prove?
Prediabetes is a condition where a patient might have high blood sugar, but it is not high enough to cause type 2 diabetes. The UK has roughly 8 million prediabetics and 4.5 million diabetics. The research study focused on subtle lifestyle interventions that allowed prediabetes individuals to make lifestyle changes that yielded better health. The lifestyle changes primarily focused on physical activity and weight loss sustained for two years.
The study findings highlight how lifestyle programs with achievable goals can improve people’s health while lowering their risk of type 2 diabetes. Professor Mike Sampson, the study’s lead investigator, described the results as appealing because there was no previous data on whether achievable lifestyle programs could help counter diabetes.
The recent study shows that consistent, albeit light physical activity and weight loss even by moderate amounts, cause significant changes that may help prevent diabetes. The findings represent great news for individuals diagnosed with prediabetes and the general global population because it highlights the benefits of regular fitness activities and healthy diets. Diabetes is a debilitating illness, and it would be best to avoid it at all cost.
