Research

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Intensive lifestyle interventions (diet and exercise) alone do not significantly reduce cardiovascular event risk in overweight/obese adults with type 2 diabetes compared to usual care, whereas weight loss achieved through metabolic surgery significantly reduces complications and mortality.

While healthy eating and exercise are important, they might not be enough to protect your heart if you have type 2 diabetes and are overweight. The Look AHEAD study showed that intensive lifestyle changes didn't lower heart attack or stroke risk compared to standard care. However, losing a significant amount of weight (10% or more) did help. For some, metabolic surgery offers the best chance to reduce complications and live longer. Talk to your doctor about combining lifestyle changes with medications or other treatments.

GoodQualifiesHIGH confidence
Intensive lifestyle treatments in the Look AHEAD... randomised controlled trial... did not reduce the risk of cardiovascular events compared to usual care. Weight loss achieved with metabolic surgery reduced the risks of microvascular and macrovascular complications of diabetes and reduced mortality.
Rodolfo J. Galindo et al. · BMJ Medicine · 2023

Why this rating

Based on a large RCT (Look AHEAD) for lifestyle and multiple studies for surgery.

Source

Advances in the management of type 2 diabetes in adults

Rodolfo J. Galindo et al. · BMJ Medicine · 2023

DOI 10.1136/bmjmed-2022-000372

narrative_reviewCited 67×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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