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Study
Finds Adult Diabetes
90% Preventable
Excerpt
by Gene Emery, Reuters Health
BOSTON
(Reuters) - Nine out of 10 cases of type 2 diabetes could be prevented
if people exercised more, ate better, stopped smoking and adopted
other healthy behaviors, according to a report in Thursday's issue
of The New England Journal of Medicine.
The study
findings suggest behavior is the main culprit in type 2 diabetes,
also known as adult-onset diabetes, and that 91% of the diabetes
cases that appeared among 85,000 female nurses ``could be attributed
to habits and forms of behavior.''
``The majority
of cases of type 2 diabetes could be prevented by the adoption
of a healthier lifestyle,'' reported researchers led by Dr. Frank
Hu of the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, Massachusetts.
Type 2 diabetes
occurs when the body cannot properly use the blood sugar-controlling
hormone insulin. Obesity is known to be a major contributor to
the condition. Hu's team wanted to determine the extent of the
role lifestyle plays in type 2 diabetes.
Using diet
and lifestyle questionnaires, Hu's team compared data on the 3,300
nurses who developed diabetes over a 16-year period with data
on those who did not. The most important risk factor, they found,
was being overweight. The heavier a nurse was, the greater the
risk.
But even having
a weight at the high end of the normal range nearly tripled the
risk, Hu pointed out.
On the other
hand, physical activity showed a strong protective effect. Women
who exercised for 7 or more hours per week were half as likely
to develop diabetes than women who exercised for less than half
an hour weekly, the researchers found.
They noted
that the same precautions for preventing type 2 diabetes--including
exercise and weight control--also guard against heart disease.
SOURCE:
The New England Journal of Medicine 2001;345.
Reference
Source 89
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