Reversing Prediabetes Can Reduce Heart Attack Risk By Nearly 60 %

NEW DELHI- Prediabetic patients who successfully lower their blood sugar levels and achieve remission can significantly reduce their risk of serious heart problems by nearly 60 per cent, according to a study.

The research, published in the journal The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, showed that restoring blood glucose levels to the normal range — effectively reversing prediabetes — substantially cuts the risk of death from heart disease or hospitalization due to heart failure.

People who achieved remission from prediabetes had a 58 percent lower risk of cardiovascular death or hospitalization for heart failure. This protective effect persisted decades after glucose levels normalized, indicating a long-term benefit of effective blood sugar regulation, researchers from King’s College London in the UK said.

The findings are particularly significant in light of recent research suggesting that lifestyle changes alone — including exercise, weight loss, and dietary improvements — do not necessarily reduce cardiovascular risk in people with prediabetes.

“The study challenges one of the biggest assumptions in modern preventive medicine,” said lead author Dr Andreas Birkenfeld, Reader in Diabetes at King’s College London and University Hospital Tuebingen.

“For years, people with prediabetes have been told that losing weight, exercising more, and eating healthier will protect them from heart attacks and early death. While these lifestyle changes are unquestionably valuable, the evidence does not support that they reduce heart attacks or mortality in people with prediabetes,” he said.

“Instead, we show that remission of prediabetes is associated with a clear reduction in fatal cardiac events, heart failure, and all-cause mortality,” Birkenfeld added.

Prediabetes is a condition in which blood glucose levels are higher than normal but not high enough to be classified as type 2 diabetes.

Previous studies have shown that combined lifestyle interventions, including increased physical activity and healthy eating, did not significantly reduce cardiovascular disease risk. This suggests that merely delaying the onset of diabetes may not provide cardiovascular protection unless key metabolic changes occur.

“The findings indicate that prediabetes remission could establish itself — alongside lowering blood pressure, reducing cholesterol, and quitting smoking — as a fourth major primary prevention strategy that truly prevents heart attacks and deaths,” Birkenfeld said. (IANS)