A large new study suggests that even people with a high genetic risk for type 2 diabetes may be able to greatly lower their chances of developing the disease by following healthier lifestyles.
The research, led by scientists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, found that lifestyle habits such as maintaining a healthy body weight, staying physically active, avoiding smoking, and eating better foods may have an even greater impact on diabetes risk than genetics itself.
The study was published in the journal Diabetes and included health data from more than 332,000 adults in the United Kingdom. Researchers followed participants for nearly 14 years on average and discovered that lifestyle choices played a powerful role in determining who eventually developed type 2 diabetes.
Type 2 diabetes is one of the most common chronic diseases in the world. It happens when the body can no longer properly use insulin, the hormone that controls blood sugar levels.
Over time, high blood sugar can damage blood vessels, nerves, kidneys, eyes, and the heart. The condition also raises the risk of heart attacks, strokes, and other serious health problems.
Doctors have long known that both genetics and lifestyle affect diabetes risk. Some people inherit genes that make them more likely to develop the disease. Having close family members with diabetes can also increase risk. However, researchers increasingly believe that genes alone do not decide a person’s future health.
The new study strongly supports this idea.
The researchers calculated each participant’s genetic risk using 783 known genetic variants linked to type 2 diabetes. Participants ranged from 40 to 69 years old when they joined the study, and scientists tracked their health outcomes through the UK Biobank, a major biomedical research database.
During the study period, about 4% of participants developed type 2 diabetes.
The researchers found that both genetics and lifestyle independently influenced diabetes risk. However, lifestyle had a much stronger effect overall.
People with the least healthy lifestyles were nearly seven times more likely to develop diabetes compared to those with the healthiest habits. In contrast, people with the highest genetic risk were about 2.6 times more likely to develop diabetes compared to those with the lowest genetic risk.
This means unhealthy lifestyle habits had a greater impact on diabetes risk than inherited genes alone.
Professor Cassandra Spracklen, senior author of the study and an epidemiologist at UMass Amherst, said the findings offer encouraging news for people who worry about their family history.
She explained that even people who may feel they “lost the genetic lottery” can still significantly lower their diabetes risk by making healthier choices.
The researchers looked at four major lifestyle factors based on guidelines from the American Heart Association. These included smoking status, body mass index, physical activity, and diet quality.
People who met at least three healthy lifestyle goals were considered to have healthy lifestyles.
Among all the lifestyle factors, body weight appeared to have the strongest effect on diabetes risk. Smoking and physical activity also showed strong links to diabetes development. Diet remained important as well, although its independent effect appeared smaller in this analysis.
The findings were consistent across men and women and among different ancestry groups, suggesting the results may apply broadly to many populations.
One of the most important findings was what happened when researchers looked at both genetics and lifestyle together. Across every level of genetic risk, people with healthier lifestyles consistently had lower rates of type 2 diabetes than those with unhealthy habits.
In other words, healthy habits appeared to protect people even if they had genes linked to higher diabetes risk.
The researchers estimated that more than 55% of new type 2 diabetes cases might theoretically be prevented if people with unhealthy lifestyles improved their habits.
This finding is especially important because type 2 diabetes rates continue rising worldwide. Modern lifestyles that involve less physical activity, increased processed food consumption, smoking, stress, and obesity have contributed to the growing problem.
Scientists say prevention is critical because diabetes often develops slowly over many years. Many people may have high blood sugar for a long time before symptoms appear. Early prevention can reduce complications and improve long-term health.
The study also highlights an important message about aging and health. Some people believe it is “too late” to make changes later in life. However, the researchers emphasize that improvements made during adulthood can still lower disease risk.
Professor Spracklen explained that even if diabetes cannot be fully prevented in every case, delaying its onset may still provide major health benefits by reducing long-term complications.
The findings add to growing evidence that many chronic diseases are influenced not only by genetics but also by daily behaviors that people can change.
If you care about diabetes, please read studies about diabetes and vitamin B12, and the right diet for people with type 2 diabetes.
For more health information, please see recent studies about how to eat smart with diabetes, and turmeric and vitamin D: a duo for blood pressure control in diabetic patients.
Source: University of Massachusetts Amherst.
