Great news for patients at risk for diabetes type 2, the form which is linked to health habits, not genes.

There is a diabetes “epidemic,” researchers have been saying for a few years now. This story says that about 24 million of American adults have type 2 diabetes—11 percent.

Diabetes can be a devastating disease. This is proof that prevention works.

U. S. News and World Report

“Diet and exercise can keep diabetes at bay for a decade, cutting the risk for the disease by more than a third in the most susceptible people, a new study finds.(Emphasis added)

“About 11 percent of U.S. adults (24 million) have diabetes, mostly type 2, which is linked to poor diet and sedentary lifestyle. In addition, 57 million overweight adults have higher-than-normal blood sugar levels, which raise the risk of a heart attack or stroke and the likelihood of developing type 2 diabetes, researchers say.

“But new research, published in the Oct. 29 online edition of The Lancet, shows that losing weight and exercising can delay or prevent the onset of diabetes more effectively than the prescription drug metformin or a placebo.”

Source: U.S. News and World Report, October 29, 2009

Citation: The Lancet, Online edition, October 29, 2009