Doctors from the University of Bristol are looking for volunteers who have recently been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes to take part in the largest diet and exercise study of its kind. The study will be based in local hospitals across the Southwest.
The recent large rise in the number of people suffering from Type 2 diabetes is closely linked to the increase in obesity within the population and is thought to be due to a lack of exercise and an increase in food intake.
Dr Rob Andrews, leading the programme from the University of Bristol, said: “The study aims to show how much benefit can be gained from increased physical activity and/or improved diet in the early stages of this condition. Although diet and exercise are essential to the management of diabetes, very little is known about how much these factors affect glucose levels, blood pressure and cholesterol.”
"The study aims to show how much benefit can be gained from increased physical activity and/or improved diet in the early stages of this condition."
Dr Rob Andrews
Over the next 18 months the study will recruit 750 people from across the Southwest who are between the ages of 30 and 80 and who have been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes within the last 6 months. Individuals will be allocated to 1 of 3 groups. Participants in the exercise group will be asked to wear an activity monitor all day everyday. This monitor will provide them with information about how many calories they are burning as they go about their daily business. Using the monitor, patients will be set targets to aim for such that they gradually increase the amount of exercise they do.