Achieving normal glucose regulation needs to be a prevention strategy for people with prediabetes, health experts have said.
Prediabetes is the biggest risk factor for developing type 2 diabetes, occurring when fasting blood sugar is already raised and glucose tolerance is compromised.
Doctors usually recommend diet and exercise to try to prevent prediabetes from developing into type 2 diabetes, with patients advised to lose at least 7% of their body weight.
Despite current recommendations, cases of type 2 diabetes have risen dramatically around the world.
- Weight loss and blood sugar regulation during prediabetes can prevent type 2 diabetes
- Higher blood sugar levels in women with gestational diabetes linked to higher risk of complications for mother and baby
- Red light exposure can lower blood sugar levels in people with diabetes
Researchers say this calls for better strategies to reduce the number of people developing the condition.
In a recent study, diabetes experts Professor Andreas Birkenfeld and Professor Viswanathan Mohan suggest that normalising blood sugar levels should be added to the recommendations for people at risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
The professors say that improvements in insulin resistance can help to bring about prediabetes remission to normal glucose regulation. They say this could mean prediabetes remission can occur at a point when the beta cells are yet to be damaged to an extent that it has a health impact.
This suggestion means there is a window of opportunity in prediabetes in which beta cell function can be preserved long term.
As part of their research, the pair examined whether weight loss-induced prediabetes remission works better than the current recommended strategies for preventing type 2 diabetes.
They looked at data from 480 people in the U.S. Diabetes Prevention Program who had prediabetes and had lost at least 7% of their body weight through lifestyle interventions lasting a year.
While 114 people saw their blood sugar levels normalise (prediabetes remission), this was not the case for the majority of the group.
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A key finding was that those who achieved prediabetes remission at the same time as losing at least 7% of their body weight, reduced their risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 76%, compared to those who only achieved the 7% or more weight loss.
Professor Birkenfeld said: “We believe that prediabetes remission should be considered in future studies and guidelines as it has the potential to protect beta cell function from the development of type 2 diabetes and possibly reduce the rising incidence and prevalence of type 2 diabetes worldwide.”
Access the study in Nature Reviews Endocrinology.
