Individuals with prediabetes can reduce their chances of acquiring several life-threatening illnesses through making healthy lifestyle modifications, as revealed by a recent study conducted with support from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Healthy behaviors, like eating a nutritious diet, engaging in physical activity, and maintaining an appropriate weight, among others, were less likely to experience more than one medical condition during their lifetime compared with those individuals who failed to adopt healthy lifestyles.
In individuals with prediabetes, their blood glucose level is higher than the normal range but low enough to diagnose them with type 2 diabetes. According to health specialists, there are millions of individuals suffering from prediabetes around the globe; however, most of them are not aware of their disease status.
In this particular study, many adults were observed who had prediabetes over the course of more than 20 years. This was done within the context of the Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) and the follow-up study conducted on the same called the Diabetes Prevention Program Outcomes Study (DPPOS). In the study, researchers compared the subjects who underwent lifestyle intervention to the subjects who took the general health recommendations.
The lifestyle intervention program included subjects who lost about 7% of their body weight by making healthy food choices and doing moderate exercise (walking briskly, cycling, and swimming) for at least 150 minutes a week.
As per the researchers' findings, the participants of the lifestyle intervention showed lower risks of developing various diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, kidney disease, and nerve damage.
As the research reveals, proper exercises allow the body to manage its insulin levels properly, while healthy diet and weight loss help manage the level of glucose. These alterations decrease the load on the organs of the body and decrease the risk of developing complications in the future.
What is more important, positive results from healthy behaviors were seen years after. Participants of the study who managed not to develop diabetes also enjoyed good health as compared to those who did not make significant alterations in their lifestyle.
Healthcare professionals note that the new information proves how crucial it is to prevent disease. Small changes such as proper diet, regular exercises, less consumption of sweets, getting enough sleep, and non-smoking have an enormous effect on a person's health in the long run.
It is noteworthy that the changes not only help to prevent the development of diabetes but also improve the state of people in general. Researchers urge people to visit the doctors regularly, particularly if a patient has family history of the disease, is overweight, or suffers from hypertension.
Though drugs have been developed that can help prevent the occurrence of diabetes, researchers claim that making healthy choices is still considered one of the best and most inexpensive ways to prevent diseases.
The research team is hopeful that its results would motivate individuals to make small but healthy changes in their lives and remind physicians about the importance of prevention programs.