THURSDAY, Aug. 15, 2024 (HealthDay News) — Even people at high genetic risk for type 2 diabetes (T2D) can benefit from a low-cost, group-based intervention focused on healthy eating and physical activity, according to a study recently published online in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.
Dr. Maria Anneli Lankinen and colleagues from the University of Eastern Finland in Kuopio investigated whether low or high genetic risk influences the development of type 2 diabetes in a group-based lifestyle intervention study. The analysis included men (aged 50-75 years) from the Male Metabolic Syndrome Cohort, including 315 men characterized as having low genetic risk for type 2 diabetes and 313 men characterized as having high genetic risk, as well as a control group (196 men with low genetic risk and 149 men with high genetic risk).
The researchers found that the 3-year intervention significantly reduced the risk of type 2 diabetes in participants with a high genetic risk of type 2 diabetes (hazard ratio 0.30, 95% confidence interval 0.16 to 0.56, P < 0.001). However, the effect was not significant in the low genetic risk group (hazard ratio 0.69, 95% confidence interval 0.36 to 1.32, P = 0.262). There was no significant difference in the effect of the intervention between the high and low genetic risk groups. The intervention significantly improved blood glucose deterioration and reduced body weight in both the low and high genetic risk groups.
“All individuals at risk for type 2 diabetes should be encouraged to make lifestyle changes, regardless of genetic risk,” the authors write.
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