London: A healthy lifestyle is 60 percent effective in diabetes prevention whether a person has prediabetes or has a very high genetic risk for developing Type 2 diabetes. In a video by Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), titled, ‘How to protect yourself from becoming diabetic.
Director of HMC’s Qatar Metabolic Institute and Co-Chair of the National Diabetes Strategy Dr. Abdul-Badi Abou-Samra said that a healthy lifestyle is 60 percent effective in protecting people from diabetes – more effective than any medication that they were aware of.
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“Thus it is possible to prevent diabetes regardless if you have prediabetes or whether you have a very high genetic risk for developing Type 2 diabetes.”
He explained that a person has prediabetes when the blood sugar is a little bit high but not so high to be labeled as diabetes. “That person has a 10 percent chance of developing diabetes in the first year and each year further 10 percent. Thus, in 10 years there will be almost 100 percent chance of that person becoming diabetic if he does not change the lifestyle.”
He reiterated that if the person changes their lifestyle and adopts a healthy lifestyle, that person can protect himself from developing diabetes. “That person who has prediabetes has a good chance of reversing the course of the disease, returning to normal glycemic control by just adopting a healthy lifestyle.
Dr. Abou-Samra explained that Type 2 diabetes develops in adults and it takes time to develop. “ It stays for a long time as sub-clinical in which there are no symptoms. And when it develops the patients may not know it for a long time. Most of the time it is preceded by a period called prediabetes and usually, genetic factors are important. Therefore, in a family, there may be many members with diabetes.”
He explained that if one member of the family doesn’t have diabetes, the person has a high risk of developing Type 2 diabetes if he/she does not adopt a healthy lifestyle.
Dr. Abou-Samra said that according to the study by the US Diabetes Prevention Programme people were asked to do 30-minutes of exercise daily and were put on a diet to lose weight -7 percent of their body weight within 3 months. “The people were divided between those with very high genetic risk for diabetes and those who didn’t have a genetic risk for diabetes.
It was found that lifestyle modification was as effective in the prevention of diabetes in both groups. No matter how many members of your family have diabetes, you have a chance to protect yourself and prevent Type 2 diabetes by adopting a healthy lifestyle.
