CHENNAI: Even small modifications in diet and exercise can reduce the risk of diabetes, according to a study by the Diabetes Research Centre and MV Hospital for Diabetes, Royapuram, here.

A. Ramachandran, managing director, said the study was possibly the biggest controlled one on diabetes and its prevention in South-east Asia.

The study selected over 500 people with impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) from around 11,000 screened for diabetes.

Those with IGT are considered to be in the first phase of diabetes. Around one-third of those with the condition will develop diabetes. More than 16 per cent of the population in Chennai is estimated to have IGT.

The study was carried through three years. Of four groups, the group went for modifications of diet, such as cutting down sweets and exercise of walking half-an-hour for five days a week registered the maximum risk reduction in developing diabetes. It even registered a higher risk reduction than the group that was on drugs and modifications of diet and exercise.

Cost-effective

Dr. Ramachandran said lifestyle modification might well be the most cost-effective way of controlling diabetes in the country. Diabetes seemed to be increasingly affecting the younger, working population that would not be considered unfit.

As the disease is largely not marked by manifest symptoms, people can simply adopt these techniques and avoid lifestyle habits that place them at a higher risk.

The study was conducted in the context of the finding that developing countries had a substantially higher prevalence of diabetes than the developed world. Its findings could be applied globally, Dr. Ramachandran said.

Obesity was found to be the greatest concurrent condition with diabetes, and in the West most prevention programmes were directed at weight reduction.

The study was conducted by a team of 15 staff headed by Dr. Snehalatha at the Research Centre.

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