Glycemic Control Is Not Associated With Lifestyle Intervention
While a lifestyle intervention did not significantly improve glucose control, the addition of exercise to standard care is associated with reduced medication use among participants with type 2 diabetes, according to a recent study.
In the study, 93 participants who were diagnosed with non-insulin dependent type 2 diabetes for less than 10 years were randomly assigned to a lifestyle intervention (n = 64) or standard care (n = 34). Those assigned to the lifestyle intervention completed 5 to 6 weekly aerobic training sessions that lasted 30 to 60 minutes each, with 2 to 3 sessions combining aerobic exercise with resistance training. Participants also were assigned dietary plans to reduce their body mass index to 25 kg/m2 or less. All participants received standard care that included individualized counseling and standardized, blinded, target-driven medical therapy and were followed for 12 months.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
RELATED CONTENT
Metabolic Syndrome Reduced By Less Than 1 Hour of Resistance Exercise
Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Benefit from Intensive Lifestyle Interventions
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The researchers defined the primary outcome as changes in hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) measured from baseline to 12 months and the secondary outcome as reductions in glucose-lowering medication use.
The mean HbA1c level from baseline to 12 months had decreased from 6.65% to 6.34% in the lifestyle intervention group and from 6.74% to 6.66% in the standard care group. While mean changes in HbA1c did not meet the researchers’ criteria for equivalence, more participants in the lifestyle intervention group (73.5%) had reduced their use of glucose-lowering medications compared with participants in the standard care group (26.4%).
“Among adults with type 2 diabetes diagnosed for less than 10 years, a lifestyle intervention compared with standard care resulted in a change in glycemic control that did not reach the criterion for equivalence, but was in a direction consistent with benefit,” the researchers concluded. “Further research is needed to assess superiority, as well as generalizability and durability of findings.”
—Melissa Weiss
Reference:
Johansen MY, MacDonald CS, Hansen KB, et al. Effect of an intensive lifestyle intervention on glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes: a randomized clinical trial [published online August 15, 2017]. JAMA. doi:10.1001/jama.2017.10169.