Lifestyle interventions and Metformin 1000 mg daily significantly reduce incidence of type two diabetes mellitus among Egyptians with impaired glucose tolerance

Abstract

The dramatic increase in newly diagnosed cases of type 2 diabetes is a major public health concern within Egyptians in recent years and it is estimated that by the year 2030, Egypt will have at least 8.6 million adults with diabetes. Several studies worldwide were done and concluded that type 2 DM is preventable by specific interventions. Rural Egyptians are thought to be less risky for developing type 2 diabetes because of the less sedentary lifestyle and less obesity compared to urban population, but the problem is that in rural areas the diagnosis of the disease is underestimated because of the less available medical care and primary screening programs. This work applies certain interventions among risky individuals in rural Egypt to determine the rate of type 2 diabetes progression in Asyut university hospital to prove whether they are effective in preventing it among them or not. Randomized 80 subjects with IGT were classified into two groups, group A was given Metformin 500 mg twice daily plus given instructions regarding lifestyle modifications, and group B which was the control group and it was given nothing. Follow up was done for one year and incidence of new cases of diabetes in both groups plus comparable effects on body weight and BMI were recorded. Four cases were newly diagnosed as diabetic patients among group (A) while 12 patients were diagnosed among group (B) by the end of the year and this signifies that new case diabetes was significantly reduced among group (A) than group (B) in favor of group (A). In conclusion, the study ascertained that lifestyle interventions and Metformin 1000 mg daily significantly reduce incidence of type two diabetes mellitus among Egyptians with impaired glucose tolerance (IGT).

Keywords: Diabetes prevention, diabetes in Egypt, Metformin, lifestyle modification.