Diabetes Study Shines Spotlight On Lifestyle Interventions | Health-e ...

(Excerpt)

An Emory University study published in the January issue of Health Affairs assesses real-world lifestyle interventions to help delay or prevent the costly chronic disease that affects nearly 26 million Americans.

Researchers from Emory?s Rollins School of Public Health (RSPH) systematically reviewed the published literature and analyzed 28 studies that tested adaptations of the Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) trial in real-world settings. Published in 2002, this major clinical trial showed that structured lifestyle programs for people with prediabetes could halve the progression to diabetes.

?Participants in the DPP trial received exercise shoes, meal replacement shakes, personal (one-on-one) coaching by degree-holding professionals (exercise physiologists, nutritionists, nurses), and gym memberships that all together cost about $1,400 per person during the first year of the study,? says lead investigator Mohammed Ali, MBChB, MSc, assistant professor of global health at Emory?s RSPH.

?Over the years, a number of studies have tried to adapt the program and make it more affordable. My colleagues and I scanned the literature to find all such studies in the US, and combined the data to see what kind of average weight loss benefit is possible across all of these studies as moderate (5-7 percent) weight loss was the key driver of success in the DPP trial,? says Ali.

The researchers found that a year after enrollment in these lifestyle programs, the average participant had lost about four percent of baseline body weight, an amount that may offer diabetes protection. The weight loss was the same regardless of whether the program relied on higher-salaried health professionals or lower-cost lay staff who are trained to deliver healthy eating and fitness advice. The authors concluded that costs associated with diabetes prevention can be lowered without sacrificing effectiveness and that motivating higher session attendance in structured programs seemed to be the key driver of success in achieving weight loss.

Ali?s study is part of a special thematic issue of?Health Affairs exploring the efficacy, costs, and value of lifestyle changes and other measures to control diabetes. Commentaries and analyses by his Emory colleagues Kenneth E. Thorpe, PhD, and K.M. Venkat Narayan, MD, also are featured in the diabetes issue.

Narayan?s commentary and analysis focuses on the need for major policy changes to help prevent and control diabetes. In his article entitled, ?Global Prevention And Control Of Type 2 Diabetes Will Require Paradigm Shifts In Policies Within and Among Countries,? Narayan says continued increases in the prevalence of and disproportionate health spending associated with type 2 diabetes underscore the need for policies focused on preventing and treating it appropriately.

Narayan, the Ruth and O.C. Hubert Professor of Global Health at RSPH, outlines four policy paradigm shifts that will be necessary to achieve that specific emphasis on type 2 diabetes: conceptually integrating primary and secondary prevention along a clinical continuum; recognizing the central importance of early detection of prediabetes and undiagnosed diabetes in implementing cost-effective prevention and control; integrating community and clinical expertise and resources, within organized and affordable service delivery systems; and sharing and adopting evidence-based policies at the global level.

Health-e-Solutions comment: Interesting article for prevention and control of type 2 diabetes. Can any of this also apply to type 1 diabetes? In terms of controlling type 1 diabetes through natural, healthy lifestyle choices, we believe there is great merit to this. By control, we mean better blood sugar management. This is central to any type of diabetes, and food choices impact one?s ability to control blood sugars.

Our recipe e-books, workshops and home study course will teach you how to transform your lifestyle in a practical, livable way for long term sustainability, decreased potential for complications associated with diabetes and overall better health.

Source: http://healthesolutions.com/diabetes-study-shines-spotlight-on-lifestyle-interventions/

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