Yonsei Med J.  2013 Mar;54(2):345-351. 10.3349/ymj.2013.54.2.345.

Improvement of Glycemic Control after Re-Emphasis of Lifestyle Modification in Type 2 Diabetic Patients Reluctant to Additional Medication

• Kim HJ
• Jung TS
• Jung JH
• Kim SK
• Lee SM
• Kim KY
• Kim DR
• Seo YM
• Hahm JR

• KMID: 1503895
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3349/ymj.2013.54.2.345

Abstract

PURPOSE
The aim of this study is to observe glycemic changes after emphasizing the importance of lifestyle modification in patients with mild or moderately uncontrolled type 2 diabetes.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
We examined 51 type 2 diabetic patients with 7.0-9.0% hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) who preferred to change their lifestyle rather than followed the recommendation of medication change. At the enrollment, the study subjects completed questionnaires about diet and exercise. After 3 months, HbA1c levels were determined and questionnaires on the change of lifestyle were accomplished. We divided the study subjects into 3 groups: improved (more than 0.3% decrease of HbA1c), aggravated (more than 0.3% increase of HbA1c) and not changed (-0.3% RESULTS
Among the total 51 subjects, 18 patients (35.3%) showed the decreased levels of HbA1c after 3 months with mean change of -0.74+/-0.27%, and HbA1c values of 11 patients (21.5%) were less than 7%. In addition, the HbA1c level was significantly reduced in patients who reportedly followed the lifestyle modification such as diet and exercise for 3 months, compared with the one obtained from patients who refused this lifestyle change (p=0.002).
CONCLUSION
In this study, 35.3% of the patients with mild or moderately uncontrolled type 2 diabetes showed the significant improvement of HbA1c levels after 3 months by simply regulating their daily diet and exercise without change of medication. This suggests that the lifestyle modification is significantly associated with the improvement of glucose control.

Keyword

Diabetes mellitus; glycemic control; lifestyle; modification

MeSH Terms

Aged
Blood Glucose
Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2/drug therapy/psychology/*therapy
*Diet
*Exercise
Female
Hemoglobin A, Glycosylated/metabolism
Humans
*Life Style
Male
Middle Aged
Patient Compliance
Blood Glucose
Hemoglobin A, Glycosylated

Figure

• 

  Fig. 1 Flow diagram of the study. LSM, lifestyle modification.

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