Delaying onset of the disease reduces risk of heart disease and death

In the new study, researchers looked at the health of 540 people with prediabetes who had taken part in an earlier study. study The study, known as the Daqing Diabetes Prevention Study, was conducted in China.

In the study, participants were randomly assigned to a control group or one of three intervention groups: The intervention group implemented a six-year healthy eating program; Regular exerciseor both. Researchers followed participants for an average of 30 years after the intervention.

In the new analysis, researchers found that people who delayed a diabetes diagnosis for at least four years after being diagnosed with prediabetes had a lower risk of death from any cause, as well as a lower risk of cardiovascular disease and other conditions. Coronary artery diseasestroke, or heart failure.

They also had a lower risk of diabetes-related eye, kidney and nerve problems compared with people who developed diabetes at a younger age.

Additionally, people who delayed their diabetes diagnosis for at least six years Cardiovascular disease compared with those who had previously been diagnosed with diabetes.

No protective effect was seen in those who delayed diabetes diagnosis by less than four years.

“This suggests that longer diabetes-free periods may reduce the risk of long-term adverse outcomes,” the authors wrote. “Taking actions to extend diabetes-free periods in people with prediabetes, beyond just lifestyle interventions, may be of great importance.”

Senior noted that both the original Da Ching study and the US National Diabetes Prevention Programme show that it is possible to prevent the onset of diabetes.

of National Diabetes Prevention Program It's a lifestyle change program that focuses on healthy eating and exercise. Studies have shown that people with prediabetes who participate in the program have a 58% reduced risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

“We've also known for many years that if people with diabetes can keep their blood sugar levels within target levels, it will benefit them in the long term,” Senior said.

So, “if you treat people with diabetes and work on it intensively for even just five or 10 years, their long-term health will be better decades down the line than people who are left to fend for themselves.”

However, if you delay controlling your blood sugar levels, you may not see the same long-term health benefits as those who start earlier.

Senior likens this to saving for retirement, where it's best to start putting money aside when you're 20 years old, rather than waiting until you're 50. Only then will health insurance benefits start accumulating.

The new study extends that thinking to earlier stages, before people develop diabetes, he said.

“Lifestyle change interventions delay the onset of diabetes,” he says, “and even if you develop diabetes later, you're still at an advantage over people who develop it much earlier.”

The new study included people with prediabetes, so they were at higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

One public health approach is to identify these people at high risk for diabetes and provide targeted interventions, an approach taken by the National Diabetes Prevention Program.

“But if it's a healthy diet and healthy lifestyle intervention, it's not going to do any harm,” Senior says, “so we should encourage it for everyone, maybe with some additional guidance for those who are most at risk.” [of diabetes].”

A healthy diet and regular exercise can lower the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, but Senior warned against viewing diabetes as simply a “lifestyle disease”.

“Behaviours, lifestyles and the circumstances people find themselves in all influence the age at which people develop diabetes,” he said.

However, genetics also plays an important role in the development of diabetes.

“There are some people who are destined to get diabetes no matter what,” he says, “and in their case it may be important to delay the onset of diabetes. But it's still very worthwhile.”

Still, “there is a real risk that it could reinforce the stigma surrounding diabetes,” he says. “People with diabetes can be criticized for eating the wrong foods or not doing enough of the right things.”

But “that misunderstands the nature of diabetes,” he says: “Someone could be very conscious about their lifestyle and still get diabetes because of genetics.”

The researchers looked at health outcomes among people with prediabetes who took part in a previous study that compared a lifestyle intervention (healthy diet, exercise, or both) with no intervention.

People who delayed the onset of diabetes for four or more years had a lower risk of dying from any cause and from cardiovascular diseases, including coronary heart disease, stroke and heart failure, as well as a lower risk of diabetes-related eye, kidney and nerve problems.

Other studies have shown that lifestyle programs, such as a healthy diet and exercise, can reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, although genetics also play a role in whether or not you develop diabetes.