Aggressive pre-diabetes approach can help prevent disease, study says
Two-thirds of US adults and one in five children are overweight or obese, putting them at greater risk of chronic illness like heart disease, cancer, stroke and diabetes.
A new medical study reports that an "early and aggressive" approach for those in the process of developing Type 2 diabetes is justified to reduce the disease, according to the BBC.
The findings, published in the journal the Lancet, found that restoring normal sugar levels decreased the onset of Type 2 diabetes by over 50 percent. People with "pre-diabetes" have higher than normal blood sugar levels.
According to WebMD, some 26 million Americans have diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is the most common form of diabetes affecting at least 90 percent of all those with the disease.
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Unlike people with type 1 diabetes, people with type 2 can produce insulin but their pancreas either does not make enough or their body cannot use it adequately, creating insulin resistance.
Experts said the findings were clinically important and "some measures, such as weight loss and more exercise, can reverse pre-diabetes," according to the BBC. The study conducted by the US Diabetes Prevention Program Research Group showed patients "who reduced their blood sugar levels to normal, even briefly, were 56 percent less likely to develop Type 2 diabetes during the six years of the study."
"This analysis draws attention to the significant long-term reduction in diabetes risk when someone with pre-diabetes returns to normal glucose regulation, supporting a shift in the standard of care to early and aggressive glucose-lowering treatment in patients at highest risk," said the author of the study Dr Leigh Perreault.
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