Diabetes weight loss plans ‘may be more effective than drugs’

Weight loss programmes for Type 2 diabetes may be more effective than drugs for some patients, a new study suggests.

Patients who take part in inexpensive lifestyle programmes are less likely to need stronger medication and are more likely to have better blood sugar levels, a new study found.

Researchers from Glasgow University tracked 1,500 Type 2 diabetes patients who attended such programmes and compared them to patients who did not. They found that people who completed the 16-week course saw no increase in their oral diabetes medication, and were half as likely to progress to need to take insulin.

Patients who completed the Clyde Glasgow and Clyde weight management service lifestyle programme were likely to weigh an average of 8kg less three years later, patients who did not were an average 1kg lighter.

The study, published in Diabetes Obesity and Metabolism, also found that patients who successfully lost 5kg had a significant reduction in their blood sugar levels, even three years after completing the programme.

“A real-life structured weight management intervention can reduce weight in the medium term, result in improved glycaemic control with fewer medications, and may be more effective than pharmacological alternatives,” the authors wrote.

One patient, Ian Armstrong, 71, from Eaglesham, East Renfrewshire, started the programme in 2014 when he weighed 107kg. He lost 17.9kg during the 16-week lifestyle programme and was able to stop his insulin completely.

Picture: PA. Ian Armstrong from East Renfrewshire, pictured in 2013 and 2017, lost weight and stopped his insulin use.