Lose weight if you are told you have Type 2 diabetes, it is important.

If you have just been told that you have type 2 diabetes, it would be a good idea to start thinking about losing a few pounds. A study has shown that losing weight in the first years after diagnosis has significant benefits for these patients, even if after some time they gain it again.

It is estimated that half of diabetics also suffer from obesity, a problem that aggravates their glucose control and worsens their cardiovascular risk. And although until now losing weight was an indisputable recommendation for these people, it was not very clear to what extent it could favor the control of their disease or what specific benefits it could bring them.

To get the most realistic information possible, American researchers reviewed the medical history of 2,500 adults with type 2 diabetes over four years. In the first three, they evaluated their weight in detail, drawing a curve that showed any gain or loss of kilos. The fourth year they spent evaluating their glucose and blood pressure levels.

Although most remained at their weight, there were 314 patients who lost an average of 11 kilos in the 18 months of follow-up. These participants, who went from about 109 to 98.6 kilos, began to gain regained weight in year four, almost reaching their starting levels. However, despite this rebound, the researchers observed that they were the ones with the best control of their disease of all the participants.

This glycemic and blood pressure control, specialists warn, can prevent some of the most common complications of diabetic patients, such as those affecting the eyes, the kidneys, and even death from cardiovascular problems.

The specialists specifically measured the glycosylated hemoglobin index (whose analysis shows the average level of sugar in the blood in the last six to eight weeks) and blood pressure, which were above average in the participants who did not lose weight or who gained weight.

The study does not investigate the mechanisms that could explain the observed benefits, although its authors suggest that it could be related to other healthy lifestyle habits that accompany weight loss, or to a better insulin sensitivity that would persist in the body after weight loss (Insulin resistance is precisely the body's inability to absorb it, which raises blood sugar levels).

As one of the researchers from the Kaiser Permanente Foundation who carried out the work, Adrianne Feldstein, explains, “Until now it was already known that weight loss is an important component of diabetes treatment. Now we also know that there is a critical window period of 18 months after diagnosis in which some benefits can be obtained that have long-term repercussions and in which patients are more willing to make changes in their lifestyle ”.

SOURCE: elmundo.es