Keeping one of the most prevalent and damaging illnesses at bay – diabetes – can be as simple as a few adjustments. According to a 10 year log follow-up study, which was a trial to try to determine a way to prevent diabetes in individuals that were at high risk for the disease, there could be ways to stop the disease from actually starting.
This is a very important study because over 24 million people, which adds up to one in every nine people have diabetes. Most have Type2. This type of diabetes usually develops when a person is an adult. In addition to the 24 million who have diabetes, it is estimated that there are another 57 million people who high blood glucose levels, but d not yet have diabetes. This is the group that will get the most benefit from the study and the lifestyle changes.
The study involved more than 3,000 overweight or obese individuals with above normal risk for diabetes. Some were given the diabetes medication metformin, others were given a placebo and the final group worked on lifestyle changes. By the time the study ended – early – it was clear that the individuals who changed their lifestyle fared better than the other two groups.
The lifestyle change group basically exercised daily for about 30 minutes daily, limited fat intake I their diet and ended up losing 55 to 7% of their body weight. Most of the people in this group lost 15 pounds or close to it, while the individuals taking metformin lost about 5 pounds each and the ones on the placebo lost only about 2 pounds. Some of the people in the lifestyle change group ended up gaining back up to 10 pounds when they went off their regimen.
The individuals in the lifestyle group cut their risk of diabetes by nearly 60%
And those taking metformin reduced their risk by about a little over 30%.
These result showed that after 10 years the people who were in the lifestyle change group ended up on average postponing the onset of diabetes by four years. Those on metformin delayed onset by about 2 years. The elderly individuals were helped the most. People aged 60 and up lowered their risk of diabetes in the 10 years by almost half.
.So, if you think you might be prone to diabetes or you are not sure, it is important to check with your doctor and see. If you have he tendency but have not developed diabetes yet, exercise, eat healthy foods and check with your doctor or health practitioner to see what you can do to avoid the onset of diabetes or at least delay it.
Bob Greene has gotten to be quite well known as the individual who manages Oprah Winfrey’s fitness. He deals with everything from diet to exercise and has appeared on her show quite regularly. He is now at the point where he is appearing on all sorts of shows, including Good Morning America, which he appeared on very recently.