Diabetes Study Reaches Midpoint in Patient Recruitment
October 29, 2002 A major study looking at the long-term effects of weight loss in overweight people with type 2 diabetes has enrolled 2,500 participants--half the number it seeks to recruit, the clinical trial's steering committee recently reported. Until it meets the goal of 5,000 volunteers, the study is continuing to recruit men and women ages 55 to 75 who are overweight or obese and have type 2 diabetes.
"Recruitment for the Look AHEAD study has been proceeding extremely well, but we still need many more volunteers," noted Barbara Harrison, who administers the trial for the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK). "In particular, we'd like to encourage individuals to volunteer if they have type 2 diabetes and heart disease or have had a heart attack or stroke."
The Look AHEAD (Action for Health in Diabetes) study is a multicenter randomized clinical trial that is examining the effects of weight loss achieved through an intensive program of diet and exercise. Participants are randomly assigned to either a diet and exercise program or to one offering diabetes support and education. The goal of the trial is to learn how weight loss affects the rate of heart attack, stroke, and cardiovascular-related death in overweight people with type 2 diabetes. Heart attack and stroke are the leading causes of death in people with type 2 diabetes, a disease strongly linked to obesity and a sedentary lifestyle. About 80 percent of people with type 2 diabetes are overweight.
Participants will be followed for up to 11.5 years. During this period, researchers will track cardiovascular risk factors, diabetes control, the development of complications, and general health and quality of life.
"We have an enormous opportunity to learn more about the role long-term weight loss can play in improving the health of overweight individuals with type 2 diabetes," said Rena R. Wing, Ph.D., study director. "We know short-term weight loss can benefit overweight people with diabetes; we just don't have good data about the long-term effects."
The study is funded by the NIDDK, the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, the National Institute of Nursing Research, the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities, and the Office of Research on Women's Health (within the National Institutes of Health) as well as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, all components of the Department of Health and Human Services.
The Look AHEAD study is taking place at 16 clinical centers around the country. The center in Phoenix, AZ, is looking at the effects of long-term weight loss in American Indians ages 45 to75 years old with type 2 diabetes. For more information, call 1-866-55AHEAD (552-4323) or see www.LookAHEADstudy.org.
Look AHEAD COORDINATING CENTER
Wake Forest University
Winston-Salem NC
Look AHEAD CLINICAL CENTERS Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore MD | Pennington Biomedical Research Center
Baton Rouge, LA |
Baylor College of Medicine
Houston, TX | University of Texas Health Science Center
San Antonio, TX |
University of Colorado Health Sciences Center
Denver, CO. | University of Minnesota
Minneapolis, MN. |
University of Washington
Seattle, WA | University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, PA. |
University of Tennessee
Memphis, TN | Massachusetts General Hospital
Boston, MA |
St. Lukes-Roosevelt Institute for Health Sciences
New York, NY | University of California Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA |
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Birmingham, AL | University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA |
The Miriam Hospital
Providence, RI | Southwest American Indian Center
Phoenix, AZ |
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CONTACT:
Jane DeMouy
Leslie Curtis
301-496-3583
Page last updated: April 17, 2008
