FRIDAY, June 4, 2021 (HealthDay News) – A diet to induce weight loss lowers blood pressure (BP) in people with type 2 diabetes, according to a study published online May 31 in Diabetologia.
Wilma S. Leslie, Ph.D., of the University of Glasgow in the UK, and colleagues performed a post hoc analysis of changes in blood pressure during the initial total diet replacement period in the intervention arm of the diabetes remission clinical trial ( 143 participants [78 on treatment for hypertension]). In order to achieve a clearly negative energy balance and rapid weight loss over 12 to 20 weeks, the total diet replacement Counterweight-Plus provided around 830 kcal.
The researchers found that the mean total blood pressure decreased significantly from the start of full supplementation and was significantly lower at week 20 and after 12 and 24 months. Of those treated for high blood pressure, 83 percent stopped all antihypertensive and diuretic drugs according to the protocol, and 5 percent stopped some drugs (65 and 4 participants, respectively). These participants did not experience an immediate change in blood pressure, but a significant decrease in mean blood pressure was observed after nine weeks. No excessive increases in blood pressure were recorded, but 27.5 percent of participants were reintroduced antihypertensive drugs during the full diet to treat the increased blood pressure, despite weight loss, mostly within the first three to seven weeks. Twenty-eight percent of those who stopped antihypertensive drugs went drug-free after 24 months.
“The potential to stop using drugs for blood pressure and diabetes is a huge incentive for people,” Leslie said in a statement. “We hope that our results will convince healthcare professionals that this is possible and encourage the wider provision of diabetes remission services.”
Several authors disclosed links to the pharmaceutical industry.
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