Diet May Be Key First Line Therapy In New-Onset Type 2 Diabetes

HealthDay (6/25, Preidt) reported, “Dietary changes alone can yield the same benefits as changes in both diet and exercise in the first year after a person is diagnosed with type 2 diabetes,” according to research presented at the American Diabetes Association’s annual meeting and simultaneously published online June 25 in The Lancet. Investigators “found that patients who were encouraged to lose weight by modifying their diet with the help of a dietician had the same improvements in blood sugar (glycemic) control, weight loss, cholesterol and triglyceride levels as those who changed both their diet and physical activity levels (30 minutes of brisk walking five times a week).”

The study’s lead author “said the findings may also suggest a change in treatment algorithm in type 2 diabetes, with diet as the first line therapy, then a combination of diet and exercise, and finally diet plus activity and metformin if the two prior approaches fail,” MedPage Today (6/25, Fiore) reported. But, “in an accompanying comment , Frank Hu, MD, of Harvard School of Public Health, wrote that the results do not necessarily mean that an increase in physical activity is ineffective for diabetes management.” Hu wrote, “It is possible that modification of two complex behaviors at the same time is no more effective than a change in one.” Medscape (6/26, Canavan) also covered the story.

Curbing Calories Key Ingredient For Weight Loss In Type 2 Diabetes. HealthDay (6/26, Mozes) reported, “Curbing calories is the key ingredient for diabetics seeking to lose weight, and low-fat diets that are either high in protein or high in carbs are equally effective,” according to research presented yesterday at the American Diabetes Association’s annual meeting. After following about nearly 300 overweight, middle-aged or senior “men and women with type 2 diabetes who were on a new, two-year nutritional program” and randomizing them with to a low-fat/high-carbohydrate group or to a low-fat/high-protein group, researchers found that in the end, “both groups lost a similar amount of weight and reduced their waist size in similar measure.”