A Systematic Review of Lifestyle Modification and Glucose Intolerance in the Prevention of Type 2 Diabetes

Diabetes is reaching epidemic proportions. High risk groups, such as those older individuals or with glucose intolerance have been shown to exhibit a high risk of developing diabetes. We aimed to systematically identify and evaluate those studies that have investigated the impact of lifestyle interventions on the prevention of the development of incident Type 2 diabetes in those with glucose intolerance. Non-pharmacological lifestyle interventions, including manipulation of dietary intakes and physical activity levels are the main approaches taken to reduce the onset of diabetes in high risk groups, such as those with glucose intolerance. Intensive use of each of these lifestyle interventions have been shown to halve the risk of incident diabetes, although less intensive interventions appear to be less effective. Lifestyle modification is a useful weapon in the armoury of preventing the onset of diabetes, which is essential to reduce the associated increased risk of morbidity and mortality that might otherwise overwhelm health care systems in both developed and developing countries.