TDNet Discover

Introduction: Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) affects many American adults and comes with a myriad of complications that include but are not limited to cardiovascular disease, kidney disease, and death. Currently, 9.4% of the adult population is diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Type 2 Diabetes is diagnosed when the Hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) is 6.5% or greater;additionally, a diagnosis of prediabetes is established if the HbA1c is between 5.7% and 6.4%. Prediabetes can rapidly progress to type 2 diabetes if no intervention is made and thus research currently focuses on different methods of prevention. Aim: To determine the most effective method for the prevention of type 2 diabetes with a diagnosis of prediabetes in adults over 18 years of age. Three prevention methods were researched: diet alone, exercise alone, and diet and exercise combined. Methods: A full systematic review was performed, and sources were analyzed based on predetermined inclusion and exclusion criteria. The final selection of peer-reviewed literature included research from the highest levels of evidence. Results: This resulted in six articles that addressed blood glucose outcomes based on diet, exercise, or diet combined with exercise interventions. Analysis of the six articles led to the determination that diet combined with exercise was the most efficacious method of preventing the progression of prediabetes to diabetes. All six articles were found to be of good quality according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) - Study Quality Assessment Tool. While exercise alone and diet alone did improve glucose tolerance it was inferior to a combination of the two. Conclusion: The combination of diet and exercise can prevent the progression by up to 58% compared to 20% reduction with diet or exercise alone. Type 2 Diabetes can be prevented in PREVENTION OF DIABETES iv diagnosed prediabetics. Although diet alone and exercise alone can help prevent the progression, diet and exercise combined showed a significant decrease in progression rates