New research indicates that restoring body mass index to a healthy range in individuals with early-stage type 1 diabetes could significantly lower their risk of developing full-blown clinical disease, highlighting the importance of weight management in early intervention strategies.
New research suggests that people with early-stage type 1 diabetes who bring their body mass index back into the healthy range may reduce their chances of progressing to full clinical disease, according to a study in Diabetes Care. The findings centre on individuals who already had type 1 diabetes autoantibodies and were carrying excess weight, a group at higher risk of moving from the earliest phases of disease to stage 3 diabetes.
Researchers analysed data from 833 children and adults enrolled in the TrialNet Pathway to Prevention study. During follow-up, 26.8% of participants reached a normal BMI. Those who did so were less likely to develop stage 3 type 1 diabetes than people who remained overweight or obese, and they also had a lower risk of advancing to stage 2 disease. The associations were strongest in younger participants and in males.
Maria J. Redondo of Texas Children’s Hospital, who led the work, told Healio that participants whose BMI returned to the healthy range had about a 48% lower risk of progressing to clinical type 1 diabetes. She said the pattern was seen mainly in children and adolescents, and stressed that the study was observational, meaning it cannot prove that lowering BMI directly prevents the disease. Even so, Redondo said the results point to excess weight as a potentially modifiable factor in disease progression.
The subgroup findings were uneven by age and sex. Lowering BMI was linked with reduced risk in boys under 12 and in adolescent girls, but not in adult men or women overall. Redondo said the results add to the case for monitoring BMI in people who test positive for type 1 diabetes autoantibodies and for encouraging healthy nutrition, physical activity and age-appropriate weight trajectories. In growing children, she noted, returning to a healthy BMI does not always require weight loss; sometimes it can be achieved by keeping weight stable as height increases. She also said weight-focused measures may eventually be combined with immunotherapies and close monitoring in early-stage disease.
Disclaimer: This content is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical judgment, advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
