Scientific efforts are continuing to better understand the factors affecting heart health among people at risk of developing diabetes, amid growing global interest in the early prevention of chronic diseases.
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Prediabetes is defined as a condition in which blood glucose levels are higher than normal but not high enough to be diagnosed as type 2 diabetes. However, it is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases, which are among the leading causes of death worldwide. It is estimated that more than one billion people globally are living with prediabetes.
In this context, a new study reveals that lowering blood sugar levels significantly reduces the risk of heart disease among people with prediabetes, with the reduction reaching up to 50 percent, opening new prospects for early cardiovascular prevention.
The study, conducted by King’s College London, showed that restoring blood glucose levels to normal — effectively achieving recovery from prediabetes — helps reduce the risk of death from heart disease or hospitalization due to heart failure by more than 50 percent.
The researchers reanalyzed data from two long-term diabetes prevention trials: the Diabetes Prevention Program Outcomes Study in the United States (DPPOS) and the Da Qing Diabetes Prevention Outcomes Study in China (DaQing-DPOS). Both studies followed participants with prediabetes for decades, focusing on interventions related to physical activity and diet.
The results showed a 58 percent reduction in the risk of death from heart disease or hospitalization due to heart failure among individuals who recovered from prediabetes. In addition, the risk of heart attacks, strokes, and other serious cardiovascular events declined by 42 percent, with similar findings observed in both the Chinese and U.S. data.
These findings come at a time when recent research suggests that lifestyle changes alone — such as exercise, weight loss, and dietary improvements — do not necessarily lead to a significant reduction in cardiovascular risk in this group.
The study highlights a potential shift in the approach to treating prediabetes, proposing a new therapeutic goal focused on restoring metabolic balance rather than merely delaying disease progression. Researchers believe this approach could save lives and reduce long-term cardiac complications.
The lead researcher, Dr. Andreas Birkenfeld, a lecturer in the Department of Diabetes at King’s College London and Tübingen University Hospital, said the results challenge a prevailing assumption in modern preventive medicine — that weight loss, physical activity, and a healthy diet alone are sufficient to protect people with prediabetes from heart attacks and premature death.
He added: “Despite the major health benefits of lifestyle changes, the evidence does not support their ability to reduce mortality rates or heart attacks, whereas recovery from prediabetes shows a clear association with lower rates of cardiovascular death, heart failure, and all-cause mortality.”
Birkenfeld emphasized that recovery from prediabetes could become a key preventive tool, alongside blood pressure control, cholesterol reduction, and smoking cessation, in reducing heart attacks and heart-related deaths.
The study was published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology.
Medical Express
