Norfolk study finds small weight loss nearly halves risk of diabetes

A diabetes prevention study carried out in Norfolk over the last eight years has been described as the largest in the world in the last 30 years.

The Norfolk Diabetes Prevention Study (NDPS) was a clinical trial which involved over a thousand people with prediabetes at high risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.

The findings have now been published and show that making modest lifestyle changes including losing two or three kilograms of weight, and increased physical activity over two years, reduces the risk of Type 2 diabetes by 40 to 47 percent for those categorised as having prediabetes.

The NDPS, funded by £2.5m from the National Institute for Health Research (NIRH), and NIRH Eastern, was led by the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital and University of East Anglia, together with colleagues from Ipswich Hospital, and the Universities of Birmingham and Exeter.

The research trial tested simple lifestyle interventions and saw participants lose a modest amount of weight and increase their physical activity - maintaining these changes for two years, with the weight not being put back on.

The NDPS say these findings are important because they show that a 'real world' lifestyle programme really can make a difference in helping people reduce their risk of Type 2 (adult onset) diabetes.

Professor Mike Sampson, NDPS Chief Investigator and Consultant in Diabetes at NNUH, said: “We are delighted with the results of this trial, as until now no one was very sure if a real-world lifestyle programme prevented Type 2 diabetes in the prediabetes population we studied, as there have been no clinical trials that had shown this.

"We have now shown a significant effect in Type 2 diabetes prevention, and we can be very optimistic that even a modest weight loss, and an increase in physical activity, in real world programmes like this have a big effect on the risk of getting Type 2 diabetes.

"This is really great news for the eight million people in the UK with a prediabetes diagnosis.

"The results of this trial, show that diabetes prevention is possible in the same prediabetes populations being treated in the NHS national diabetes prevention programme. This is important to know, as the clinical methods for diagnosing diabetes and prediabetes have changed a lot in recent years.”

The Norfolk Diabetes Prevention Study ran between 2011 and 2018 and worked with 135 GP practices in the East of England, and found 144,000 people who were at risk of developing Type 2 diabetes - a thousand of these were then chosen to take part.

NDPS say earlier studies have used quite intense and expensive research interventions in different groups of prediabetes participants, but this is the first time a real world group delivered intervention has been shown to reduce the risk of Type 2 diabetes.

Max Bachmann, NDPS co-investigator and Professor of Health Services Research at University of East Anglia, said: “The NDPS intervention was delivered in groups which was far less expensive than individual-focused interventions which have previously shown to be effective under optimal conditions.

"For every 11 people who received the NDPS intervention, one person was prevented from getting Type 2 diabetes, which is a real breakthrough."

Dr Elizabeth Robertson is Director of Research at Diabetes UK. She said: “We welcome this new research showing that a group-based support programme can help people at high risk of developing type 2 diabetes reduce their risk.

"This trial again highlights how achieving modest weight loss through diet and physical activity changes can lead to huge benefits for people at high risk of developing type 2. Type 2 diabetes is a serious condition, but with the right help many cases can be prevented or delayed.

"Diabetes UK’s Know Your Risk’ tool helps people to determine their risk and take steps to reduce it, including by self-referring on to NHS England’s Diabetes Prevention Programme in their local area."