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 From 2010 to 2013, researchers looked at whether maintaining weight,
along with keeping blood sugar under control, had an impact on
health care costs for people with type 2 diabetes.
The average patient in the study was obese. Even so, three years
after the study began, those who maintained their weight had reduced
their annual healthcare costs by $400, on average, regardless of
whether their blood sugar levels were well controlled.
By comparison, those who gained weight and had uncontrolled blood
sugar had an average cost increase of $1,473.
“Simply put, weight gain is expensive,” said study co-author Dr.
Greg Nichols, a diabetes researcher at Kaiser Permanente Center for
Health Research. “Even if you struggle with keeping your blood sugar
under control, preventing weight gain is really important.”
Almost 90 percent of patients with type 2 diabetes are affected by
overweight or obesity, the study authors point out in the journal
Diabetes Care.
Using medical records of Kaiser Permanente members in the Oregon and
Washington area, Nichols and colleagues tracked 8,154 adults with
type 2 diabetes from 2010 through the end of 2013.
Overall, 81 percent of participants gained less than 5 percent of
their weight, but only 38 percent managed to maintain blood sugar
control, as determined by the levels of hemoglobin A1c in their
blood.
Patients who maintained their weight within 5 percent of what it was
at the start of the study had a reduction in costs of about $400
regardless of A1C.
Patients who didn’t maintain their weight had modestly increased
costs if they were able to keep their blood sugar under control –
about $387, on average, reflecting a 3 percent increase – and a more
significant increase in medical costs if their hemoglobin A1c levels
were at or above 7 percent. For that group, with weight gain and
poorly controlled blood sugar, costs rose by $1,473, on average, or
14 percent.
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Heart failure, depression and insulin use were also associated with
greater health costs.
“Heart failure is a condition that requires constant
hospitalization,” said Dr. Amisha Wallia, an endocrinologist at
Northwestern Memorial Hospital, who was not involved with the study.
“Preventing heart failure can impact the cost of diabetes.”
She also pointed out how important it is for patients using insulin
to pay close attention to their weight.
“Insulin can be very effective in bringing down blood sugar, but it
can also cause weight gain, she said. “I tell my patients that we
have to take this one step at a time - first we lower the blood
sugar, then we address the weight.”
Losing weight under any circumstances is difficult, noted Nichols.
“It’s not that blood sugar control isn’t important - it definitely
is - but if your blood sugar is not terribly out of control,
preventing weight gain may be a more important goal,” he said.
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/2cErlb1 Diabetes Care, online August 25, 2016.
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