A study has demonstrated how diabetes can be prevented using real world strategies in individuals diagnosed with prediabetes. It has shown that lifestyle modification intervention strategies, including physical activity and diet, helped in preventing progression from prediabetes to diabetes, as well as reversal.
In an article, Prevention of diabetes from prediabetes in real world setting in South India, published in the Diabetes and Metabolic Syndrome: Clinical Research and Reviews, Vijay Viswanathan and a team of doctors of M.V. Hospital for Diabetes, and Prof. M. Viswanathan of Diabetes Research Centre analysed the effect of lifestyle modifications in preventing the progression to diabetes.
The study looked at 200 persons (aged 25-65) who underwent Oral Glucose Tolerance Test and were diagnosed with prediabetes. Of them, 100 were assigned to a control group and received standard care. The remaining 100 were assigned to an intervention group, and received intensive counselling on physical activity (that included walking for 150 minutes a week and personalised advice in accordance with their age and profession) and diet intervention.
For instance, participants involved in white collar jobs or sedentary works were advised to avoid sitting for long at their workplace and use stairs at work. The elderly were advised to perform simple low-intensity exercises every day. The advice surrounding diet were to reduce the total calories, intake of refined carbohydrates, fat and sugar, and increase fibre intake.
Findings
It was found that the conversion rate of prediabetes to diabetes was significantly higher in the control group than the intervention group — 44.6% as against 7.9%. Reversal of prediabetes was observed in 34.9% of the persons in the intervention group, compared with 6.2% in the control group. A significant reduction in glucose and HbA1c was observed in the intervention group. There was a marked increase in fasting and two-hour glucose value in the control group, the study said.
The authors concluded that prevention and progression of prediabetes to diabetes and reversal was possible with simple lifestyle intervention strategies in a real world setting in India. The primary approach for prevention should involve normalising blood glucose levels by implementing simple interventions targeting high-risk groups. The study, however, said it had limitations of not being a randomised controlled study.
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