These lifestyle changes are key to diabetes prevention

From uknow.uky.edu

The University of Kentucky Public Relations & Strategic Communications Office provides a weekly health column available for use and reprint by news media. This week’s column is by registered dietitian Tami Ross, the diabetes prevention program coordinator for UK Healthcare’s Barnstable Brown Diabetes Center.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (April 1, 2025) — About 1 in 3 Kentuckians have prediabetes and often go undiagnosed due to a lack of noticeable symptoms.

Prediabetes occurs when blood sugar levels are higher than normal but not yet in the diabetes range. If left unchecked, prediabetes can lead to type 2 diabetes, heart disease and stroke.

It’s important to know that prediabetes can be reversible, and with the right lifestyle changes, individuals can significantly reduce their risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Two key lifestyle changes are losing a modest amount of weight and getting regular physical activity. When considering how much weight one should lose, 5-7% of your starting weight can be impactful. For someone that weighed 250 pounds, that would mean losing 13-18 pounds.

It’s also recommended to work in 150 minutes of a week of moderate intensity activity. This can include activities like walking, shovelling snow or raking leaves. Your weekly activity should average about 30 minutes a day, five days a week.

                                                                  Chinnapong, iStock/Getty Images Plus

There’s a straightforward quiz to help you determine if you may have prediabetes. Those questions are:

1. Do you have a mother, father, sister or brother with type 2 diabetes?
2. Have you ever been diagnosed with high blood pressure?
3. Are you over 40? (You are at a higher risk for type 2 diabetes the older you are.)
4. Do you have a sedentary lifestyle (i.e., not much physical activity)?
5. Are you overweight?

If you answered yes to many of those questions, you’re likely to have prediabetes, but only your doctor can diagnose it for sure with a simple blood test There is no better time than now to prevent or reverse prediabetes.

If you have any questions, reach out to your primary care physician for more help.

https://uknow.uky.edu/uk-healthcare/these-lifestyle-changes-are-key-diabetes-prevention 

Smartwatches Can Help People Control Type 2 Diabetes Through Exercise

 From usnews.com

Wearing a smartwatch might do more than track steps (or your texts) -- it could be a powerful tool for helping people with type 2 diabetes stay active, a new study says.

Participants were more likely to start and maintain an exercise regimen if they had a smartwatch providing them feedback and encouragement, researchers reported March 27 in the journal BMJ Open.

Early results also indicate that they were achieving better control over their blood sugar levels and blood pressure, researchers report.

“The results of this study can contribute to change the lives of many people around the world,” said researcher Ceu Mateus, a professor of health economics at Lancaster University in the U.K.

“There are millions of people suffering from diabetes type 2 without access to non-pharmacological interventions with sustained results in the long term,” she added in a news release. “Our study shows that independently of the place where you live, your age, your ethnicity, your gender, or your income, there is an exercise program that suits you.”

                                                                                                             HealthDay

For the study, researchers recruited 135 people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, and assigned half to wear a smartwatch paired with a health app on their smartphone.

The app guided participants through a home-based physical activity program, using the watch to track their metrics.

The program gradually increased their exercise to a target of 150 minutes per week of moderate- to vigorous-intensity physical activity. Participants also were supported by an online coaching service led by exercise specialists.

“The program offered a variety of workouts, including cardio and strength training, that could be done without the need for a gym,” lead researcher Katie Hesketh, an assistant professor in exercise prescription at the University of Birmingham, said in a news release. “Its goal is to make exercise a sustainable part of daily life for people with type 2 diabetes, ultimately improving their physical and mental health.”

Those who were given a smartwatch were 10 times more likely to start an exercise program than those who weren’t, results show, and three times more likely to still participate in that program a year later.

“We found that using biometrics from wearable technologies offered great promise for encouraging people with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes to maintain a home-delivered, personalized exercise program with all the associated health benefits,” Hesketh concluded.

Based on these results, researchers plan to seek funding for a larger clinical trial that could see whether the smartwatch-based fitness program can actually help people with type 2 diabetes achieve control over their condition.

https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2025-03-31/smartwatches-can-help-people-control-diabetes-through-exercise

5 things to know about managing type 1 diabetes for emerging adults 18–25

From eu.lohud.com

Managing type 1 diabetes can be especially challenging during the transition from adolescence to adulthood, but the good news is that support is available 

Young adults with type 1 diabetes face many challenges as they transition from paediatric to adult care. Entering the adult world, with its independence and endless choices, makes this transition a very vulnerable time for these young people. Patients between the ages of 18 and 25, or “emerging adults,” are at a high risk for complications, including the highest risk of hospitalizations and mortality, but there are many ways to help during this transition.

A look into the challenges for emerging adults with type 1 diabetes

Competing priorities present the biggest challenge for emerging adults with type 1 diabetes. They may have just graduated from high school, entered the workforce or college, or both, and may be living on their own for the first time.

Diet, exercise, and sleep patterns may become less stable. And a new job, academic work, and social pressures can create higher levels of stress and anxiety. It can be hard to keep everything together, including managing type 1 diabetes. Many people with type 1 diabetes were diagnosed as children and have had the same diabetes doctor their entire lives. Pediatric care provides an approach in which families are involved and additional support is available from a psychologist and a social worker.

Adult type 1 diabetes care models give patients more freedom to choose when it comes to their care plan, and there may not be support services waiting in the wings. This abrupt switch from one approach to another — when so many other changes are taking place — can be overwhelming for emerging adults.

                                    Hill Street Studios, DigitalVision, Stock Photo. Posed by Model via Getty Images

Five important things to know

1. Diet: Food is a central issue for emerging adults with type 1 diabetes. With as many as 75 factors affecting blood sugar throughout the day, there are hundreds of decisions to make. They have to count the carbohydrates in everything they eat and drink and calculate the correct insulin dose. This process is much more difficult when eating away from home. Commercially prepared foods served in dining halls and restaurants are often very high in carbs, with portion sizes that are hard to gauge and a lack of nutritional information.

2. Alcohol: Alcohol can cause dangerously low blood sugar, especially in the middle of the night. College students with diabetes have died in these situations, so it’s critical for young adults legally able to choose to drink to make informed choices about consumption, insulin dose adjustments, and emergencies.

3. Emotional health: Emerging adults with type 1 diabetes experience higher rates of depression, anxiety, and eating disorders. Sometimes these conditions can be directly related to diabetes and cause “diabetes distress” or “diabetes burnout.” When these conditions are not directly related to diabetes, they can make the already difficult task of managing the disease much harder.

4. Rest and exercise: A hectic lifestyle isn’t always conducive to stable sleep and exercise habits, so living a healthy lifestyle is important, since it affects blood sugars not only day to day but also in the long term.

5. Testing and treatment: Technological advances in blood-glucose monitoring and insulin delivery have transformed care for type 1 diabetes, automating some of the diabetes self-management tasks involved and even eliminating the need for finger sticks. The field is innovating rapidly, so it’s important to keep in touch with your endocrinologist for access to much needed information and prescriptions.

https://eu.lohud.com/story/sponsor-story/montefiore-health-system/2025/03/31/5-things-to-know-about-managing-type-1-diabetes-for-emerging-adults-1825/69692764007/