The Diabetes Prevention Program previously showed that the incidence of diabetes in high-risk individuals was lowered 58% with intensive lifestyle intervention and 31% with use of the medication metformin. However, it was not known how long this protective effect would last. Now, the Diabetes Prevention Program Research Group has found that the protective effects persist for up to 10 years. Their findings were published October 29, 2009 in the early online publication of Lancet.

The Diabetes Prevention Program Research Group followed 2766 of the 3150 participants initially enrolled in the Diabetes Prevention Program. Of these, 910 participants were from the lifestyle intervention group, 924 were from the metformin group, and the remainder were from the placebo group. All three of these groups were offered group-based lifestyle intervention for a follow-up period of 5 to 7 years. Overall, the development of diabetes was still lowest among the participants from the original lifestyle intervention group.

Source:

The Lancet. Early Online Publication, 29 October 2009.