Type 2 diabetes is a serious health condition that is becoming more common around the world. It occurs when the body cannot use insulin properly, leading to high blood sugar levels.
Over 90% of people with diabetes have type 2, and lifestyle factors like diet, weight, and exercise play a major role in who gets the disease.
Now, researchers from Mass General Brigham and Albert Einstein College of Medicine have made a major discovery that could help predict who is at risk of developing type 2 diabetes—even years before symptoms appear. Their findings were published in the journal Nature Medicine.
The research team studied over 23,000 people from different racial and ethnic backgrounds, tracking them for up to 26 years. All participants were free of diabetes when the study began. Researchers examined blood samples from these individuals, looking at 469 small molecules called metabolites.
These are natural substances created when the body breaks down food and carries out normal functions. The goal was to find out which metabolites were linked to a higher or lower chance of developing type 2 diabetes in the future.
The results were striking. Of the 469 metabolites tested, 235 were connected with either an increased or decreased risk of type 2 diabetes. Even more impressively, 67 of these links had never been reported before. This shows that the blood carries many early warning signs of diabetes, and understanding these signs can help us take action sooner.
The researchers also looked at how diet, lifestyle, and genetics affect these metabolites. They found that lifestyle choices, such as being physically active, eating more vegetables, and avoiding sugary drinks and red meat, had a strong influence on the levels of diabetes-related metabolites.
These same habits are already known to reduce diabetes risk, and the study suggests that changes in certain metabolites may be the reason why these habits are protective.
One important finding is that diet and exercise may have a bigger impact on diabetes-linked metabolites than on other kinds of metabolites not related to the disease. This helps explain how our daily choices shape our risk of developing diabetes and highlights the importance of a healthy lifestyle.
The team also found that some metabolites are connected to genes and body processes involved in diabetes, like insulin function and fat storage.
Based on all this data, they created a unique combination—or signature—of 44 metabolites that helped predict who would develop type 2 diabetes in the future. This prediction method worked better than traditional risk factors alone.
According to the researchers, this is the largest and most detailed study of its kind. By combining blood tests with genetic and lifestyle information, it paints a clearer picture of how type 2 diabetes develops.
Dr. Qibin Qi, a senior author of the study, said these results are a big step forward, but more studies are needed to confirm the findings and learn exactly how these metabolic changes cause diabetes.
The research team hopes that their work will help scientists create more targeted prevention strategies. By identifying people who are at high risk and understanding which biological pathways are involved, doctors may one day be able to offer more personalized care and treatment.
Dr. Jun Li, another lead author, said that understanding these biological pathways may help researchers create better treatments and even prevent diabetes from developing in the first place. This study gives us a better understanding of how diet, genetics, and metabolism work together to influence health—and offers hope for the future of diabetes prevention.
If you care about diabetes, please read studies about 5 vitamins that may prevent complication in diabetes, and how to manage high blood pressure and diabetes with healthy foods.
For more health information, please see recent studies about vitamin D and type2 diabetes, and to people with type 2 diabetes, some fruits are better than others.
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