Key TakeawaysA new study found that adults who were able to reverse prediabetes did not necessarily have a lower risk of dying than adults who still had prediabetes.However, when study participants got more exercise and did not smoke, the risk of dyingwaslower.Even if you don’t have prediabetes, developing habits like avoiding smoking and exercising more can improve your health and increase your life expectancy.Experts recommend eating a nutritious diet, getting enough sleep, and controlling stress levels to live a longer, healthier life.
Key Takeaways
A new study found that adults who were able to reverse prediabetes did not necessarily have a lower risk of dying than adults who still had prediabetes.However, when study participants got more exercise and did not smoke, the risk of dyingwaslower.Even if you don’t have prediabetes, developing habits like avoiding smoking and exercising more can improve your health and increase your life expectancy.Experts recommend eating a nutritious diet, getting enough sleep, and controlling stress levels to live a longer, healthier life.
People who haveprediabetescan often take steps to normalize blood sugar levels and prevent the condition fromprogressing to type 2 diabetes. But new research suggests getting blood sugar levels under control may not be enough to keep you healthy long-term.
According to a recent study published inJAMA Network Open, adults diagnosed with prediabetes who got back to having normal blood sugar levels did not have a lower risk of dying compared to people who have prediabetes.
However, when paired with two major lifestyle behaviors—getting more physical activity and not smoking—reversing prediabeteswaslinked to a lower risk of death and a longer life expectancy.
Wenyuan Li, ScD, of Zhejiang University in China, a co-first author of the study, told Verywell that the study’s findings highlight “the significance of lifestyle modifications for those who are in prediabetes status, offering healthcare providers new evidence on identifying populations that may benefit more from certain lifestyle modifications.”
Here’s what experts say aboutreversing a prediabetes diagnosis, including what steps you need to take to improve your overall long-term health and increase your life expectancy.
What Is Prediabetes?Prediabetes is when your blood sugar levels are higher than normal but are not high enough to be considered type 2 diabetes. Normoglycemia means you have normal blood sugar levels.
What Is Prediabetes?
Prediabetes is when your blood sugar levels are higher than normal but are not high enough to be considered type 2 diabetes. Normoglycemia means you have normal blood sugar levels.
What It Means to Have Prediabetes
Reversing Prediabetes
Li and colleagues conducted a prospective cohort study with data from 45,782 participants from theTaiwan MJ Cohort Study. More than half of the participants (62.9%) were men and the average age was 44.6 years. All of the participants were diagnosed with prediabetes during an initial clinic visit between 1996 and 2007.
According to Li, the adults who went from prediabetes to normal blood sugar levelsandtook up health-supporting habits likegetting regular physical activityhad a notably lower mortality risk.
Adults who reversed prediabetes and stayed physically active had a 2.5-year longer life expectancy than people with prediabetes who were not physically active.
Participants who got their blood sugar levels back to normal but were current smokers had a 3.6-year lower life expectancy than people with persistent prediabetes who had never smoked.
Specifically, the researchers defined:
There are several limitations to the study,Eliud Sifonte, MD, an endocrinologist with NYU Langone who was not involved in the research, told Verywell, including that the definition of prediabetes was based on a one-time measurement of blood sugar levels.
In addition, the study was done in Taiwan and may not be generalizable to other populations with different demographics and lifestyle characteristics.
Given these limitations, the results should be interpreted with caution.
Limitations of the StudyThere are several limitations to the study, including that the definition of prediabetes was based on a one-time measurement of blood sugar levels.In addition, the study was done in Taiwan and may not be generalizable to other populations with different demographics and lifestyle characteristics.Given these limitations, the results should be interpreted with caution.
Limitations of the Study
There are several limitations to the study, including that the definition of prediabetes was based on a one-time measurement of blood sugar levels.In addition, the study was done in Taiwan and may not be generalizable to other populations with different demographics and lifestyle characteristics.Given these limitations, the results should be interpreted with caution.
There are several limitations to the study, including that the definition of prediabetes was based on a one-time measurement of blood sugar levels.
Why Wouldn’t Lowering Blood Sugar Levels Be Enough?
While it’s not entirely clear why adults who reverse prediabetes do not have a lower risk of dying than people with persistent prediabetes, Li said it might be because there are individual underlying health disorders and conditions that affect risk.
“After reversion to normoglycemia, individuals may still have underlying metabolic abnormalities that increase their risk of death,” said Li.
Other experts who were not involved in the study theorized that if people have diabetic conditions and are insulin resistant, they are generally at a higher risk of developing other health conditions like heart disease.
Pouya Shafipour, MDEven if the blood sugar is well controlled, if we’re not addressing other things like blood pressure, hypercoagulability state, or other inflammatory markers, we might not see improved mortality.
Pouya Shafipour, MD
Even if the blood sugar is well controlled, if we’re not addressing other things like blood pressure, hypercoagulability state, or other inflammatory markers, we might not see improved mortality.
People with diabetes are also more likely to have risk factors such as high blood pressure and high cholesterol which can increase their chances of having a heart attack or stroke—conditions that can be fatal.
“Even if the blood sugar is well controlled, if we’re not addressing other things like blood pressure, hypercoagulability state or other inflammatory markers, we might not see improved mortality,”Pouya Shafipour, MD, a board-certified family and obesity medicine physician of Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, CA, told Verywell.
Why Does Exercise Help?
Steven Malin, PhD, FACSM, an associate professor of metabolism and endocrinology in the Department of Kinesiology and Health at Rutgers University, told Verywell that exercise can have this effect on life expectancy because it promotes muscle contraction, which stimulates glucose uptake even if a person is insulin resistant.
“After we eat meals, the body makes insulin but tissues like muscle do not respond well to insulin when it is insulin resistant,” Malin, who was not involved in the study, said. “Exercise, however, can override that and take up glucose still. It is a powerful therapy and the effects last for a few hours after the bout of movement.”
How Much Exercise Do I Need to Live Longer?People should aim to get 150 to 300 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity a week, Sifonte said. This can include activities like walking, biking, swimming, running, and dancing.However,how long you exercisefor and thetype of exerciseyou choose will depend on individual factors such as your age, fitness level, and health status. It is also recommended that you talk to your healthcare provider before starting any new exercise program.
How Much Exercise Do I Need to Live Longer?
People should aim to get 150 to 300 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity a week, Sifonte said. This can include activities like walking, biking, swimming, running, and dancing.However,how long you exercisefor and thetype of exerciseyou choose will depend on individual factors such as your age, fitness level, and health status. It is also recommended that you talk to your healthcare provider before starting any new exercise program.
People should aim to get 150 to 300 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity a week, Sifonte said. This can include activities like walking, biking, swimming, running, and dancing.
However,how long you exercisefor and thetype of exerciseyou choose will depend on individual factors such as your age, fitness level, and health status. It is also recommended that you talk to your healthcare provider before starting any new exercise program.
Malin said that exercise also helps our muscles become more insulin sensitive for up to 48 hours, which means the body does not need as much insulin after meals to get the same effect in terms of lowering blood sugar levels.
According to Li, when people are physically active, it also helps reduce inflammation and oxidative stress in the body—both of which are associated with a higher risk of chronic disease and greater mortality.
How to Find Out If You’re Prediabetic
What About Smoking?
Malin said smoking stimulates stress hormones in the body and damages blood vessels that are crucial for the delivery of insulin to tissues (like muscle).
Should You Get Tested for Prediabetes?
Other Habits to Improve Blood Sugar Levels
Overall, Li said that adopting healthy lifestyle behaviors like getting regular physical activity and quitting smoking can help improve overall health and reduce the risk of mortality for people with prediabetes.
Besides quitting smoking and exercising more, experts say there are other lifestyle changes you can make to help lower and manage your blood sugar, improve your health, and live longer:
What This Means For YouWhile lowering your blood sugar levels back to normal and reversing prediabetes alone may not be all it takes to help you live longer, it still has benefits for your health. If you are able to reverse prediabetes and take up healthy lifestyle habits like eating a nutritious diet, sleeping well, getting regular exercise, and not smoking, it can help you live a longer, healthier life.
What This Means For You
While lowering your blood sugar levels back to normal and reversing prediabetes alone may not be all it takes to help you live longer, it still has benefits for your health. If you are able to reverse prediabetes and take up healthy lifestyle habits like eating a nutritious diet, sleeping well, getting regular exercise, and not smoking, it can help you live a longer, healthier life.
Preventing Prediabetes
4 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Cao Z, Li W, Wen CP, et al.Risk of death associated with reversion from prediabetes to normoglycemia and the role of modifiable risk factors.JAMA Netw Open. 2023;6(3):e234989. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.4989MedlinePlus.Prediabetes.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Diabetes and your heart.American Diabetes Association.What superstar foods are good for diabetes?
4 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Cao Z, Li W, Wen CP, et al.Risk of death associated with reversion from prediabetes to normoglycemia and the role of modifiable risk factors.JAMA Netw Open. 2023;6(3):e234989. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.4989MedlinePlus.Prediabetes.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Diabetes and your heart.American Diabetes Association.What superstar foods are good for diabetes?
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Cao Z, Li W, Wen CP, et al.Risk of death associated with reversion from prediabetes to normoglycemia and the role of modifiable risk factors.JAMA Netw Open. 2023;6(3):e234989. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.4989MedlinePlus.Prediabetes.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Diabetes and your heart.American Diabetes Association.What superstar foods are good for diabetes?
Cao Z, Li W, Wen CP, et al.Risk of death associated with reversion from prediabetes to normoglycemia and the role of modifiable risk factors.JAMA Netw Open. 2023;6(3):e234989. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.4989
MedlinePlus.Prediabetes.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Diabetes and your heart.
American Diabetes Association.What superstar foods are good for diabetes?
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