Over the first four years of Look AHEAD, participants in both groups showed positive changes in their health. On average, across all four years, participants in the intensive lifestyle group lost significantly more weight than participants in the support and education group. On average, members of the lifestyle group lost 6.2 percent of their initial body weight, and members of the support and education group lost 0.9 percent of their initial body weight. The intensive intervention group also experienced greater improvements in fitness, diabetes control, blood pressure, HDL (good) cholesterol, and triglycerides. The diabetes support group showed larger reductions in LDL (bad) cholesterol, a change associated with the increased use of cholesterol-lowering medications. The study results do not break down results by demographic groups such as gender, age, race or ethnicity.

"This important study shows that lifestyle changes have long-term favorable effects on diabetes control and cardiovascular disease risk factors in overweight or obese individuals with type 2 diabetes," said Griffin P. Rodgers, M.D., director of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), the primary sponsor of the study.

"It is important to note that participants in the intensive lifestyle group and the diabetes education and support group have had positive changes in their weight and their cardiovascular risk factors over the four years," said study chair Rena Wing, Ph.D., of the Miriam Hospital/the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University in Providence, R.I.

Longer-term follow-up of Look AHEAD participants will determine whether improvements in risk factors including blood pressure, lipids and glucose control can be sustained -- independently and as a consequence of continued weight loss -- and whether the intensive lifestyle intervention is effective in reducing the incidence of illness and death due to cardiovascular disease. These results will not be available for several years. Other important study objectives include understanding the impact of weight loss and improved fitness on diabetes complications, general health, quality of life, and psychological outcomes. Researchers also will evaluate the cost and cost-effectiveness of the intensive lifestyle intervention compared to diabetes support and education.

Source: NIH/National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases