Simple lifestyle changes could reduce heart attack risk for millions of people, scientists report

People at risk for type 2 diabetes can prevent heart problems in the future.

A new study published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology found that lowering the blood sugar level of people with prediabetes could reduce the risk of heart attack by half.

Diabetes researchers and endocrine experts from Europe, China and the U.S. investigated how returning blood sugar to normal levels affected the chances of future heart problems, based on a 20-year U.S. study and a 30-year Chinese study, according to a news release.

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In both studies, prediabetic participants were trained to make appropriate lifestyle changes to reduce blood sugar (the amount of glucose in the bloodstream) through diet and exercise, also with the goal of losing weight.

The researchers divided the participants into a remission group (where blood sugar returned to normal) and a non-remission group, which included those who were still in the prediabetes range. They then determined who in these groups had died from heart disease or been hospitalized for heart failure.

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Participants who went into remission had a 58% lower risk of dying from heart disease and being hospitalized for heart failure. This group also had a lower risk of other major cardiac events and lower overall mortality rates.

These heart-protective benefits lasted decades after the program ended, the researchers found.

“Achieving remission from prediabetes is associated with a benefit over decades, halving the risk of cardiovascular death or hospitalization for heart failure in various populations,” the researchers commented in the study publication. “Targeting remission could represent a new approach to cardiovascular prevention.”

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In an interview with News Digital, Dr. Andreas Birkenfeld, co-author of the study and professor of medicine at Tübingen University Hospital in Germany, reiterated that achieving remission from prediabetes is not only relevant to reducing the progression of type 2 diabetes, but may also be associated with a “significant reduction in… the risk of heart attack, cardiac death and heart failure.”

“Importantly, this underscores that prediabetes is a modifiable stage in which timely evidence-based interventions (especially lifestyle measures and, in selected cases, medications) can make a real difference,” he added.

The study had some limitations, including the fact that it is based on analyzes of trials that were not originally designed to measure cardiovascular outcomes, meaning the results show an association but cannot prove causality.

Additionally, unmeasured health and lifestyle factors, population differences, and lack of randomization of cardiac outcomes may have influenced the reduction in cardiovascular risk, the researchers acknowledged.

“This underscores that prediabetes is a modifiable stage in which timely, evidence-based interventions… can make a real difference.”

Birkenfeld suggested that people with prediabetes should ask their doctors the following questions: “What is my current status? What is my personal cardiovascular risk? What is my target blood glucose level?”

Patients should also ask about the frequency of blood sugar testing and key risk factors such as blood pressure, cholesterol and other related conditions, such as kidney function or sleep apnea, he advised.

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“If lifestyle changes are not enough or my risk is high, would medications be appropriate for me? What are the benefits and drawbacks?” the researcher asked as an example.

According to CDC data, about 98 million American adults, more than one in three, have prediabetes. Eight out of 10 of these adults are unaware that they have the disease.