[acb-diabetics] Weight loss questioned

Sun Nov 11 21:40:45 EST 2012

Benefits of Weight Loss in Diabetes Questioned

Obese people with diabetes who lost weight didn't lower their risk of having
a heart attack or stroke.... 

Advertisement 

A new study may be questioning the advice that obese people with type 2
diabetes should lose weight to improve their health.

A recent study showed that obese people with diabetes who lost a modest
amount of weight didn't lower their risk of having a heart attack or stroke,
but the weight loss did help improve many other health factors.

Rena Wing, a professor of psychiatry and human behavior at Brown University
and chairman of the Look AHEAD (Action for Health in Diabetes) study stated
that, "While we did not show a benefit of modest weight loss for
cardiovascular events, we did show the benefits of weight loss for improving
depression, quality of life, sleep apnea, incontinence, fitness, physical
function and blood sugar control."

For the study, researchers at 16 centers around the country worked with
5,145 obese people with type 2 diabetes. Their average starting weight was
about 200 pounds. The study was designed to see whether weight loss reduced
the risk of heart attacks and strokes.

Half of the participants were assigned to an intensive diet and exercise
program. They attended individual and group meetings where they were taught
strategies for weight loss by cutting calories and increasing physical
activity. They used some meal replacements during the weight-loss and
maintenance phases of the program.

The other half received a general program of diabetes education several
times a year. All participants continued to follow the medical advice of
their physician.

Findings: Those in the diet group lost about 8% of their starting weight
(about 16 pounds) in the first year and maintained nearly 5% (about 10
pounds) of that loss. Participants in the diabetes education group lost
about 1% (2 pounds) of their starting weight and kept it off. Everyone was
tracked for up to 11 years.

After four years, the findings showed that those in the diet-and-exercise
group improved their hemoglobin A1C readings, fitness, systolic blood
pressure and HDL cholesterol more than those in the diabetes education
group. The diet-and-exercise group also required less medication to control
the diabetes.

Participants in the diabetes education group, however, had better LDL
cholesterol at year four, possibly because more of them were taking
cholesterol-lowering drugs, Wing says.

There was no difference between the two groups in the incidence of heart
attacks and strokes, but the incidence was low in both groups, she says.
"The fact that they had lower rates of cardiovascular disease than we
expected probably reflects improvements in medical management of diabetes."

Wing says researchers will continue to monitor the study participants to see
whether their weight loss lowered their heart attacks later in their lives
and to assess other possible long-term benefits of weight loss.

"The study provides important information, but we don't know from this study
whether larger weight loss would have better impact, and we don't know if
these weight losses would have decreased the risk of heart attacks and
strokes in people without diabetes," she says.

Thomas Wadden, director of the Center for Weight and Eating Disorders at the
University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine, adds: "Regardless
of its effects on heart disease, modest weight loss and increased physical
activity improve multiple aspects of health and well-being in overweight
individuals with and without diabetes. Let's not throw out the baby with the
bathwater."

Look AHEAD (Action for Health in Diabetes) study, CDC 

Related Articles

Gaining
<http://www.diabetesincontrol.com/articles/53-diabetes-news/13764-gaining-we
ight-after-diabetes-diagnosis-increases-mortality>  Weight after Diabetes
Diagnosis Increases Mortality The
<http://www.diabetesincontrol.com/articles/53-diabetes-news/13275-the-obesit
y-paradox-in-diabetes>  Obesity Paradox in Diabetes United
<http://www.diabetesincontrol.com/articles/54-feature/11957-united-states-of
-diabetes-report>  States of Diabetes Report 

<http://www.diabetesincontrol.com/articles/53-diabetes-news/13793-novos-insu
lin-degludec-wins-fda-panel-approval> 

<http://www.diabetesincontrol.com/articles/53-diabetes-news/13793-novos-insu
lin-degludec-wins-fda-panel-approval> Novo's Insulin Degludec Wins FDA Panel
Approval

 <http://www.diabetesincontrol.com/> 

<http://www.diabetesincontrol.com/articles/53-diabetes-news/13791-first-poss
ible-non-invasive-continuous-glucose-monitor-approved-in-europe> 

<http://www.diabetesincontrol.com/articles/53-diabetes-news/13791-first-poss
ible-non-invasive-continuous-glucose-monitor-approved-in-europe> First
Possible Non-Invasive Continuous Glucose Monitor Approved in Europe

Advertisement

See A1C reductions and additional benefits from a
<http://ads.diabetesincontrol.com/www/delivery/ck.php?oaparams=2__bannerid=4
63__zoneid=39__cb=993d767d2e__oadest=http%3A%2F%2Fad.doubleclick.net%2Fclk%3
B264594682%3B79068882%3Bh%3Bpc%3DDIC>  head-to-head study comparing a GLP-1
therapy with a DPP-4 inhibitor. 

Advertisement

 <http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&pub=diabetesincontrol> Bookmark
and Share

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://www.acb.org/pipermail/acb-diabetics/attachments/20121111/50dea1f3/attachment-0001.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image001.gif
Type: application/octet-stream
Size: 43 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://www.acb.org/pipermail/acb-diabetics/attachments/20121111/50dea1f3/attachment-0004.obj>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image002.gif
Type: application/octet-stream
Size: 2500 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://www.acb.org/pipermail/acb-diabetics/attachments/20121111/50dea1f3/attachment-0005.obj>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image003.gif
Type: application/octet-stream
Size: 43 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://www.acb.org/pipermail/acb-diabetics/attachments/20121111/50dea1f3/attachment-0006.obj>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image004.gif
Type: application/octet-stream
Size: 605 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://www.acb.org/pipermail/acb-diabetics/attachments/20121111/50dea1f3/attachment-0007.obj>