04 Nov Tailored Weight Watchers Program Improved Weight Loss and Blood Sugar in Type II Diabetes

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Dr. Patrick M. O’Neil

Patrick M. O’Neil, Ph.D.
Director, Weight Management Center
Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Medical University of South Carolina
Charleston, SC 29425

MedicalResearch.com: What is already known about the subject?
• Even modest weight loss (2-5%) from clinical interventions improves glycemic control in type 2 diabetes.
• Commercial weight loss programs, comparatively more affordable and accessible than clinic-based modalities, can produce weight losses in this range, although they typically do not offer diabetes-specific counseling.
• Data are sparse on such programs’ effects on glycemic control for adults with T2DM.

MedicalResearch.com: What does your study add?

• We examined the effects of a recently developed system which combined the standard Weight Watchers program with telephonic and e-mail consultation with certified diabetes educators, compared to standard brief diabetes nutrition counseling.
• Throughout the one-year study, participants in the enhanced Weight Watchers program had greater improvements in their glycemic control and fasting blood glucose) and lost more weight than did participants receiving standard nutrition counseling.

MedicalResearch.com: What should readers take away from your report?

Response: The combination of an available commercial weight loss program with scalable complementary diabetes education may represent another effective and accessible component of diabetes management.

MedicalResearch.com: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this study?

Response: Longer term followups would indicate the duration of the benefits we saw throughout the year of this study.

MedicalResearch.com: Is there anything else you like to add?

Response: It is important to note that all participants were under the care of a physician (not associated with the study) for their diabetes, and all but 5% were on one or more diabetes medications. In spite of this none had HbA1c in the target range (<7.0) at the start of the study. Another future research idea would be examination of this enhanced WW program for newly diagnosed diabetics.

MedicalResearch.com: Thank you for your contribution to the MedicalResearch.com community.

Citation:

Obesity Symposium
Randomized controlled trial of a nationally available weight control program tailored for adults with type 2 diabetes
Authors
Patrick M. O’Neil,Karen Miller-Kovach,Peter W. Tuerk,Lynne E. Becker,Thomas A. Wadden,Ken Fujioka,Priscilla L. Hollander,Robert F. Kushner,W. Timothy Garvey,Domenica M. Rubino,Robert J. Malcolm, Daniel Weiss,William J. Raum, Jonny L. Salyer,Kathie L. Hermayer,Stephanie L. Rost,Jan L. Veliko,Nicoleta D. Sora

First published: 2 November 2016
DOI: 10.1002/oby.21616

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/oby.21616/full

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Last Updated on November 4, 2016 by Marie Benz MD FAAD