by Kristen Monaco, Senior Staff Writer, MedPage Today

Trial focused on younger adults with early-onset diabetes

A low-calorie diet and exercise reversed early-onset type 2 diabetes for more than half of young adults, the randomized RESET for Remission trial showed.

Among 96 participants, the intervention put diabetes into remission for 54% at 24 weeks, bringing HbA1c below 6.5% without glucose-lowering medications for at least 12 weeks, compared with a 4% remission rate in the usual care group (adjusted OR 21.6, 95% CI 6.2-114.5).

The intervention featured an 800-900 calorie daily meal-replacement diet, twice-weekly supervised aerobic and resistance exercise, and once-weekly independent exercise for 12 weeks. Participants then transitioned into a 12-week maintenance phase featuring a nutritionally optimized diet, tapering of meal replacements, and independent exercise.

Remission rates were consistent in subgroup analyses by sex, ethnicity, and study country, Kaberi Dasgupta, MD, MSc, of McGill University in Montreal, said at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) annual meeting in Milan.

The findings were simultaneously published in Lancet Regional Health Americas.

Prior studies have established low-energy meal replacement diets as effective non-surgical tools for diabetes remission. However, few studies have evaluated this approach combined with structured, supervised exercise.

“It’s already quite a lot to ask someone to adhere to a meal-replacement diet,” Dasgupta said. “Adding supervised exercise makes it even more challenging. Will they be able to do it? The nice thing is, if they can do it, they stand to have the benefits of the low-energy diet — the weight loss and the remission — and perhaps also the benefits of exercise.”

Read more:Low-Calorie Diet, Exercise Reversed Type 2 Diabetes Without Meds | MedPage Today

Source: MEDPAGE Today