Health behavior change cuts CVD risk after T2DM diagnosis

(HealthDay)—For adults newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, adoption of healthy behavior changes is associated with reduced cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk, according to a study published online March 21 in Diabetes Care.

Gráinne H. Long, Ph.D., from the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom, and colleagues examined whether improvements in health behaviors correlated with reduced CVD risk in a cohort of 867 individuals with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes. Participants, aged 40 to 69 years, from the treatment phase of the ADDITION-Cambridge study underwent assessment of physical activity, diet, and alcohol consumption at baseline and one year.

The researchers found that 6 percent of the cohort experienced a CVD event after a median follow-up period of 5.0 years. There was an inverse correlation between CVD risk and the number of positive health behaviors in the year after diagnosis of diabetes. After adjustment for age, sex, social class, occupation, and cardioprotective medication prescription, individuals who did not change any health behavior had a relative risk of 4.17 for a primary CVD event (cardiovascular mortality, nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, and revascularization) compared with those who adopted three or four healthy behaviors (P for trend = 0.005).

"Interventions that promote early achievement of these goals in patients with newly diagnosed diabetes could help reduce the burden of diabetes-related morbidity and mortality," the authors write.

One author disclosed financial ties to Eli Lilly.

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