Diabetes Distilled: Behavioural change lowers 10-year cardiovascular and mortality risk

By Colin Kenny, Editor – Diabetes Distilled

Adults with screen-detected type 2 diabetes, recruited from general practices in Eastern England, were assessed for changes in diet, physical activity and alcohol use in the year following a diabetes diagnosis. They were then followed up for an average of 10 years. Investigators found that, in the year following a diabetes diagnosis, small reductions in alcohol consumption were correlated with a lower hazard of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and small reductions in calorie intake were associated with a lower hazard of all-cause mortality.
 
In this study, which was part of the ADDITION–Cambridge investigation, 852 adults with screen-detected type 2 diabetes were recruited from 49 general practices in Eastern England from 2002 to 2006. These individuals were followed through to 2014 for the incidence of CVD events and all-cause mortality from their date of diabetes diagnosis until December 2014. Researchers then used a health behaviour change score to summarise the number of healthy behaviour changes in the year following their diabetes diagnosis.
 
Participants who made at least two healthy behaviour changes in the year after diabetes diagnosis had a 58–61% lower hazard of CVD events at 10 years. Reduction in alcohol consumption and decrease in calorie intake in the 12 months following diagnosis was associated with a lower hazard of CVD and all-cause mortality at 10 years. 

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