Overweight individuals suffering from Type 2 diabetes could decrease their annual healthcare costs by $500 through diet and exercise.
Researchers looked at how diabetes patients could reduce their cost of care, and came up with some simple solutions, Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center reported.
"Lifestyle interventions promoting weight loss and physical activity are recommended for overweight and obese people with Type 2 diabetes to improve their health," said Mark A. Espeland, professor of public health sciences at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center and lead author of the study. "This is the first study to show that weight loss can also save money for these individuals by reducing their health care needs and costs."
To make their findings the researchers looked at 5,121 obese and overweight people between the ages of 45 and 76 who had Type 2 diabetes and participated in the National Institute of Health-sponsored Action for Health in Diabetes (Look AHEAD) study starting in 2001.Half of the country-wide participants were assigned to intensive lifestyle intervention (ILI) or diabetes support and education (DSE) programs and research kept track of their medical history until 2012.
The team found those in the ILI group had an average of 11 percent fewer hospitalization and 15 percent shorter hospital stays. These benefits were linked to an average savings of $5,280 per person over a decade. People in the ILI program tended to maintain lower weights and higher rates of physical activity throughout the study when compared with the other group. This healthier lifestyle resulted in better diabetes and blood pressure control, sleep quality, and physical function.
"Type 2 diabetes is a chronic disease that is affecting more and more adults, increasing their health care needs and costs," Espeland said. "This study shows that by losing weight and being physically active, individuals can reduce these costs."
The research is published in the Aug. 21 online issue of the journal Diabetes Care.
