Good news for people with type 2 diabetes: a new study shows that combining healthy lifestyle habits with a diabetes medication called GLP-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs) can greatly reduce the risk of heart problems like heart attacks, strokes, and death from heart disease.
The findings were shared at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2025 in New Orleans.
GLP-1 RAs are injectable medications used to treat type 2 diabetes. They lower blood sugar, reduce appetite, and are sometimes used for weight loss. Past research already showed that these drugs help protect the heart. However, this new study focused on how much more helpful they are when combined with healthy lifestyle choices.
Dr. Xuan-Mai Nguyen and her team looked at health records from the Million Veteran Program, a large research project that follows the health of U.S. veterans. They studied over 63,000 veterans who had type 2 diabetes but had never had a heart attack, stroke, cancer, or serious kidney problems before.
The researchers gathered information about the veterans’ habits, such as healthy eating, staying active, not smoking, getting enough sleep, drinking little or no alcohol, managing stress, staying socially connected, and avoiding opioid use.
The researchers compared people who took GLP-1 RAs to those who didn’t and also looked at how many healthy lifestyle habits each person followed. Then they calculated the chances of serious heart events, including non-fatal heart attacks, strokes, or death from heart disease.
Each healthy habit by itself was linked with lower heart risks. But the combination of medicine and lifestyle had the strongest effect.
People who followed all eight healthy habits had a 63% lower chance of having a serious heart problem compared to those who followed one or none. People who took GLP-1 RA medication alone had a 20% lower risk.
But the biggest drop in risk—50%—was seen in people who took the medication and also followed at least six healthy lifestyle habits. This was compared to those who didn’t take the medicine and followed fewer than four healthy habits.
Dr. Nguyen said the results show that just taking the medicine isn’t enough. Adding healthy habits makes a big difference, and the more healthy habits people follow, the better their heart health.
Experts agree that both lifestyle and medicine are important. Dr. Chiadi Ndumele from Johns Hopkins said that while healthy living can sometimes be linked to other factors like income or education, this study still strongly supports the idea that lifestyle changes and medicine work better together than alone.
The study did have some limits. Most of the people studied were white male veterans, so the findings may not apply to everyone. Also, the research was based on looking at medical records and surveys, not a controlled trial. And it didn’t look at how the results might be different for people who don’t have diabetes but take GLP-1 drugs for weight loss.
Still, with over 1 million veterans involved in the program and years of data, this study adds important knowledge about how people with diabetes can protect their hearts.
In short, if you have type 2 diabetes, making healthy choices and taking the right medication together may give you the best chance at avoiding serious heart problems. Doctors should keep encouraging both medication and lifestyle changes to help their patients live longer, healthier lives.
If you care about diabetes, please read studies about Vitamin D and type 2 diabetes, and to people with diabetes, some fruits are better than others.
For more health information, please see recent studies that low calorie diets may help reverse diabetes, and 5 vitamins that may prevent complication in diabetes.
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