Interesting paper to be presented at Diabetes conference

[kate58]

Came accross this site for the 68th ADA Scientific Sessions to be held next June in San Francisco. There is an interesting paper on diet for diabetics, you'll find a link to information on this page, but it's hard to find and impossible to link to directly, so I've pasted in the abstract below.

The Effects of Low Carbohydrate Diet as Compared with a Low Fat Diet in Elderly Patients with Type 2 Diabetes


Year: 2007
Abstract Number: 1773-P

Authors:
GABRIELA RADULIAN, EMILIA RUSU, ANDREEA D. DRAGOMIR, MARILENA STOIAN, MARIA VLADICA, Bucharest, Romania


Results:
Type 2 diabetes mellitus in older people is a growing medical problem. This study was designed to evaluate the influence of low carbohydrate or low fat diet on weight loss and risk factors for atherosclerosis in elderly, obese patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

A total of 78 patients - 34 men (44.74%) and 44 women (55.26%), of with an average age 65.5[plusmn]9.2 years, obese, (BMI[gt]30kg/m2), with hypertriglyceridemia (TG[gt]160 mg/dl), type 2 diabetes mellitus (glycemia[gt]110mg/dl) and hypertension (systolic BP[gt]135 mmHg and diastolic BP[gt]80mmHg) were included into an educational program consisting of carbohydrate restricted diet or a caloric and fat restricted diet.

Every patient included in this program was clinically reevaluated every 2 months. Measurements of blood pressure, glycaemic and lipid levels, were taken after 6 months.

Patients on the low carbohydrate diet lost more weight during the six month study (6.83[plusmn]1.61kg vs. 5.16[plusmn]0.92kg, p[lt]0.05) than did those on the low fat diet. During the six month study, there was a greater decrease in the mean triglyceride level in the low carbohydrate group (229[plusmn]29mg/dl to 163[plusmn]17mg/dl p[lt]0.01) than in the low fat group (206[plusmn]23mg/dl to 186[plusmn]26mg/dl, (p[lt]0.01). The mean fasting glucose level decreased more in the low carbohydrate group (141[plusmn]25mg/dl to 129[plusmn]19mg/dl, p[lt]0.05).

I did not observe significant overall or between group changes in blood pressure.

Severely obese type 2 diabetes elderly patients lost more weight during six month on a carbohydrate-restricted diet than caloric and fat restricted diet, with a relative improvement in insulin sensitivity and triglyceride levels.
Future studies evaluating long term cardiovascular effects on different diets are needed.