A systematic review and meta-analysis carried out by researchers led by Danube University's Dr Anna Glechner and Dr Jurgen Harreiter from Medical University of Vienna has found that both men and women benefit by behavioral and drug interventions that aim to prevent people with prediabetes progressing to full-blown type 2 diabetes.
Prediabetes is a general term that refers to an intermediate stage between normal blood glucose control (normoglycaemia) and type 2 diabetes (high blood glucose levels/poor control). It includes individuals with impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), impaired fasting glucose (IFG) and a combination of the two.
Diabetes Type 2 and Its Link to Sugar-Sweetened Beverages
Sugar-sweetened beverages contribute to metabolic syndrome leading to higher risk for type-2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
Advertisement
Early detection of prediabetes offers the possibility of using lifestyle or pharmacological interventions to prevent or slow the progression to type 2 diabetes. Numerous studies provide evidence that lifestyle interventions such as changes in diet and regular physical activity, or oral glucose-lowering drugs, can delay or prevent the onset of type 2 diabetes in people with prediabetes.
In this new analysis, the authors searched for studies between 1980 and 2013 that explored sex-specific differences in treatment effects, and found 12 studies that matched their criteria. If published studies did not provide enough detail, they contacted authors to release unpublished data on sex-specific differences. Compared with usual care, men and women who received lifestyle interventions (including diet and exercise) were 40% less likely to progress to type 2 diabetes after 1 year; and 37% less likely to progress after 3 years.
![Diabetic Diet]( "Diabetic Diet")
The diabetic diet most often recommended is high in dietary fiber (especially soluble fiber) and nutrients, but low in fat (especially saturated fat) and moderate in calories.
People involved in lifestyle interventions also experienced greater weight reductions (mean increased weight loss 2.45 kg after 3 years versus usual care), and greater reductions of fasting plasma glucose (−0.31 mmol/l greater after 3 years versus usual care). No statistically significant differences in treatment effects between men and women were apparent for any outcomes.
Overall, no differences in the preventive effect of therapies with oral glucose-lowering agents between men and women could be detected. However, the intake of oral glucose-lowering drugs was associated with a reduction of type 2 diabetes.
The authors say: "To the best of our knowledge, this is the first systematic review that assessed potential sex-specific differences in effects of preventive interventions in prediabetic people. Overall, based on data from more than 5,500 men and 7,400 women, our review did not find any relevant sex-specific differences in treatment effects during 1 to 6 years of active interventions. In both sexes, lifestyle and pharmacological interventions had a beneficial preventive effect on the incidence of type 2 diabetes and weight gain."
They add: "Clinically, these findings highlight an important issue. Despite differences in age of onset, detection and burden of type 2 diabetes between men and women, the effectiveness of preventive interventions in people with prediabetes is not influenced by gender. Consequently, clinicians and prevention managers can focus on factors that are known to determine the magnitude of beneficial effects, such as adherence. Clinicians also need to focus on other aspects of sex-disparities such as the higher incidence of type 2 diabetes in middle-aged men and gaps in the quality of care between diabetic men and women."
Successful prevention of diabetes also, say the authors, has an economic impact. They say: "Recent cost-effectiveness analyses indicate that lifestyle interventions are the most cost-effective approach. In people with prediabetes who are not able to adhere to lifestyle changes, initiation of metformin is probably the next best option, but thus far, no trial evidence confirms this for non-responders to lifestyle interventions."
Source: Eurekalert
Diabetic Diet
The diabetic diet most often recommended is high in dietary fiber (especially soluble fiber) and nutrients, but low in fat (especially saturated fat) and moderate in calories.
Advertisement
People involved in lifestyle interventions also experienced greater weight reductions (mean increased weight loss 2.45 kg after 3 years versus usual care), and greater reductions of fasting plasma glucose (−0.31 mmol/l greater after 3 years versus usual care). No statistically significant differences in treatment effects between men and women were apparent for any outcomes.
Overall, no differences in the preventive effect of therapies with oral glucose-lowering agents between men and women could be detected. However, the intake of oral glucose-lowering drugs was associated with a reduction of type 2 diabetes.
The authors say: "To the best of our knowledge, this is the first systematic review that assessed potential sex-specific differences in effects of preventive interventions in prediabetic people. Overall, based on data from more than 5,500 men and 7,400 women, our review did not find any relevant sex-specific differences in treatment effects during 1 to 6 years of active interventions. In both sexes, lifestyle and pharmacological interventions had a beneficial preventive effect on the incidence of type 2 diabetes and weight gain."
They add: "Clinically, these findings highlight an important issue. Despite differences in age of onset, detection and burden of type 2 diabetes between men and women, the effectiveness of preventive interventions in people with prediabetes is not influenced by gender. Consequently, clinicians and prevention managers can focus on factors that are known to determine the magnitude of beneficial effects, such as adherence. Clinicians also need to focus on other aspects of sex-disparities such as the higher incidence of type 2 diabetes in middle-aged men and gaps in the quality of care between diabetic men and women."
Successful prevention of diabetes also, say the authors, has an economic impact. They say: "Recent cost-effectiveness analyses indicate that lifestyle interventions are the most cost-effective approach. In people with prediabetes who are not able to adhere to lifestyle changes, initiation of metformin is probably the next best option, but thus far, no trial evidence confirms this for non-responders to lifestyle interventions."
Source: Eurekalert
Gestational diabetes
The condition is not caused by a lack of insulin, but by the action of hormones produced during pregnancy that blocks the action of insulin.
Advertisement
Advertisement
|
Advertisement
Recommended Readings
Latest Diabetes News
Regular exercise and staying physically active can prevent diabetes, even for individuals who have a greater genetic vulnerability to the condition.
In type 2 diabetes individuals, regular screening for two key cardiac biomarkers may decrease the risk of cardiovascular disease events.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clears the 'bionic pancreas' that improves the management of type 1 diabetes, without the need for constant blood sugar testing.
A new study investigated the use of a mathematical model of glucose metabolism to assess continuous glucose monitor data as a metric of dysfunctional glycemic control.
At least 400 medicinal plants effective in decreasing sugar levels in the blood which is critical to control type 2 diabetes identified.