The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi has teamed up with The George Institute for Global Health to conduct research that will explore whether a lifestyle modification program can delay the onset of Type 2 diabetes in women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) in South Asia.
The research involves conducting a random trial of lifestyle modification program to determine whether it can be applied and affordably brought to scale in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and India.
“It has been shown in research settings that healthy diet and physical activity aimed at weight reduction can delay or prevent the development of diabetes in women with GDM, but we do not know how to best achieve such behavioural changes,” said Professor Nikhil Tandon, head of the Department of Endocrinology at AIIMS.
Professor Anuskha Patel, chief scientist of The George Institute for Global Health and Professor of Medicine at the University of Sydney, said that if the intervention is found to be effective and scalable, the development of Type 2 Diabetes could be delayed or prevented in more than a quarter of a million young South Asian women over a five-year period.
Type 2 diabetes is the world’s fastest growing chronic disease. Over 347 million people have diabetes with more than 80 per cent of them living in low-middle income countries.
GDM is diabetes that develops during pregnancy. The placenta makes hormones, which help the baby to grow and develop. GDM occurs because these hormones also block the action of the mother’s insulin. The hormones of pregnancy cause resistance to the actions of insulin and lead to higher blood sugar levels in women who are at risk of diabetes.
Previously thought to be a relatively benign condition, it is now known that having GDM puts women at high risk of subsequently developing Type 2 diabetes – a condition that needs lifelong treatment and is associated with a number of serious complications.
Under the auspices of the Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases (GACD), the Indian arm of the research is being supported by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), while the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council is funding the research in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
According to a release issued by AIIMS the GACD grants will make an enormous difference in treating, preventing and managing Type 2 Diabetes, especially in areas with limited resources and poor access to essential healthcare.
