The Look AHEAD Study: Implications for Clinical Practice Go Beyond the Headlines

Abstract

O N FRIDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2012, THE NATIONAL Institutes of Health (NIH) announced that the lifestyle “intervention was stopped early in NIHfunded study of weight loss in overweight and obese adults with type 2 diabetes after finding no harm, but no cardiovascular benefits.” The primary study question of the long-term Look AHEAD (Action for Health in Diabetes) Study had been answered. An intensive lifestyle intervention program aimed at a 10% weight loss and 175 minutes of physical activity per week did not reduce cardiovascular events (defined as heart attack, stroke, hospitalization for angina, or death) in people with type 2 diabetes compared with a program of diabetes support and education. A review of the primary study results, along with careful consideration of the previously published data, can put the study’s results in perspective and go beyond the headlines.