By Staff Reports
(Hawaii)– From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.
People with diabetes who can keep their weight down may save money along with their health.
At Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, researcher Mark Espeland saw this in 10 years of data on more than 5,100 overweight or obese people with diabetes. Half took part in a program to control eating and be physically active; the others did not.
People who had stayed with proper eating and exercise needed fewer drugs such as insulin and blood pressure medications, and had fewer hospitalizations. And, says Espeland:
“The savings that we found over the course of the 10 years added up to about $5,000 per participant – over $500 per year.’’
The study in the journal Diabetes Care was supported by the National Institutes of Health.
Learn more at healthfinder.gov.
HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Ira Dreyfuss.