Individuals with good lifestyle factors, such as not over-consuming alcohol, eating a healthy diet, doing exercise, not smoking and being of normal weight, are 80% less likely to develop Diabetes Type 2 over an 11-year period, compared to those with bad lifestyle factors, researchers from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, Bethesda, and National Cancer Institute, Rockville, Maryland, and AARP, Washington, DC. Reported in Annals of Internal Medicine.
The authors explained that several studies have demonstrated a link between diet, smoking status, alcohol consumption, physical activity, bodyweight, and diet, and Diabetes Type 2 risk. They have shown that improvements in lifestyle, such as doing more exercise, can postpone or prevent diabetes onset.
However, how much multiple changes impact on diabetes risk is less clear, they added.
The investigators gathered data on 114,996 adult males and 92,483 females to find out how combinations of risk factors impact on diabetes risk over an 11-year period. They were aged from 50 to 71 years and none of them had evidence of diabetes, cancer or heart disease at the beginning of the study.
Between 1995 and 1996 they monitored the individuals and gathered data on where they lived, their dietary habits, how much they weighted, as well as their smoking status, alcohol consumption, and how much physical activity they did.
Eleven years later the participants were surveyed again. The researchers wanted to know how many of them had developed Diabetes Type 2 (diagnosed by a doctor).
9.6% (11,031) of the men and 7.5% (6,969) of the women had developed new-onset diabetes during that period.
With original survey data, the researchers measured the association between lifestyle factors and the risk of developing diabetes.
They found that the participants with the best multiple lifestyle factors had an 80% lower chance of developing diabetes compared to those with the worst.
In an abstract in the journal, the researchers concluded:
“Lifestyle factors, when considered in combination, are associated with a substantial reduction in risk for diabetes.”
Most of the food we eat is broken down into glucose, a form of sugar in the blood. Glucose is the main fuel for our bodies. After digesting food, the glucose gets into the bloodstream. The cells in our body need glucose for growth and energy. The glucose cannot enter the cells without insulin – insulin makes it possible for the glucose to enter cells.
After a meal there is an increase of glucose in the bloodstream. The pancreas responds by releasing insulin.
Patients with Diabetes Type 2 either do not produce enough insulin, or their insulin does not work properly (insulin resistance).
In the majority of cases, Diabetes Type 2 develops because the individual has been overweight/obese for a long time. Diabetes type 2, if it does occur, will nearly always do so later on in life, unlike Diabetes Type 1 which usually develops by the time the patient is about 20 years old. Diabetes Type 1 is thought to be the result of an autoimmune disorder.
Diabetes Type 2 is by far the most common type of diabetes.
- There is an accumulation of glucose in the blood
- The cells do not get the glucose they require for growth and energy
Initially, the main problem for Diabetes Type 2 patients is insulin sensitivity; also blood insulin levels are too high. Drugs are available to improve insulin sensitivity and bring down glucose production by the liver.
As the diabetes advances, the patient’s insulin production becomes poorer, and he/she will often require replacement insulin.
Written by Christian Nordqvist