Study Reveals Lifestyle Changes Outperform Metformin in Diabetes Prevention

New Delhi, Jul 3 (PTI) Adopting healthier lifestyle changes has proven to be more effective than using the anti-diabetes drug metformin, with benefits persisting for over 20 years, according to a recent study.

The US Diabetes Prevention Program, initiated in 1996, involved 3,234 patients with prediabetes from 30 institutions across 22 states. The study aimed to compare the effectiveness of the drug metformin against lifestyle modifications, which included exercise and a healthy diet.

Researchers from The University of New Mexico in the US found that lifestyle changes led to a 24 per cent reduction in the development of diabetes, whereas metformin accounted for a 17 per cent reduction.

The study's findings are published in The Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology journal.

The researchers noted that the differences between the two approaches—taking metformin and adopting a healthy lifestyle—became apparent within the initial years of the study and remained consistent over time.

After the first three years, it was observed that lifestyle interventions, such as weight loss and increased physical activity, resulted in a 58 per cent reduction in the onset of type 2 diabetes, compared to a 31 per cent reduction with metformin.

"The data suggests that those people who didn't get diabetes initially also remained diabetes-free after 22 years," stated Vallabh Raj Shah, professor emeritus at The University of New Mexico's School of Medicine.

Participants in the lifestyle group experienced an additional 3.5 years without diabetes, while those in the metformin group gained an extra 2.5 years.

"Within three years of starting the study, they had to halt it because lifestyle interventions outperformed metformin. What this indicates is that lifestyle changes are more effective, which is significant news," Shah added.

The authors wrote, "During follow-up, compared with placebo, the diabetes incidence rate was reduced in the intensive lifestyle intervention group by 24 per cent, and in the original metformin group by 17 per cent, with corresponding increases in median diabetes-free survival of 3.5 years and 2.5 years."

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