New diagnostic tool or intervention for the treatment of diabetes in adults - Essay Example

Additionally, the diet was thought to be good for use in the prevention of the cardiovascular disease, which provides an added bonus to those suffering from type II diabetes, who are contra-indicated for this risk. Summary The study itself is a comparison between two Mediterranean diets and a low-fat diet. Healthy individuals who were thought to be at risk of developing type II diabetes were given advice on how to follow one of the three diets, but were given no indications towards following any kind of physical exercise regime.

The trial was non-randomized and consisted of 418 individuals aged between 55 and 80 years, and thus any benefits seen should only be used in practice for those of this age range, although benefits could be seen in those of a younger age bracket. The patients were then asked to attend a follow-up; a median time of 4.0 years after the original dietary advice was given. After this time, the incidence of type II diabetes was at 10.1% within the group whose Mediterranean diet was supplemented with olive oil, 11.

0% in those whose diet was supplemented with nuts, and 17.9% in the traditional low-fat diet category. Whilst this may seem high in contrast to the normal prevalence of type II diabetes in the U.S. population (currently standing at 8.3% of the population), it must be noted that within the same age bracket the prevalence is 26.9% (American Diabetes Association, 2011). This suggests that there may be a huge impact on diabetes prevalence in the older population when following such a diet. Interestingly, although type II diabetes is associated with higher weight individuals (Hensrud, 2012), the Mediterranean diets were found to be beneficial in the absence of any change in weight or body mass.

Discussion This new intervention could be extremely useful within medical practice. It suggests that in the absence of any formal intervention, there are options for those suffering from type II diabetes. The patients within the trial were not closely monitored, which suggests that closely following the diet is not necessary to see benefits. This would be a low-cost option for those who cannot follow expensive diet plans or those who do not have access to high-cost medicines. To integrate this principle into practice would also be extremely easy.

A clinician could simply inform the patient of how the Mediterranean diet works, and the type of meal plan that might be involved. This would be associated with advice on the types of benefits that the patient is likely to see, and how substantially that this diet plan could lower the patient’s risk of developing diabetes. The patient could also be given a leaflet of advice on how to manage this new diet plan and how this would fit into a new life. However, it must be noted that the age range of the subjects in the study was between 55 and 80 years and therefore, this advice may not be beneficial to those of a younger age.

This means that the advice should be carefully integrated into practice to be given only to these individuals, as evidence has not shown benefits for those in younger age groups. Additionally, as with any new diet plan, the patient should be carefully examined to see if the plan is suitable (Moynihan et al., 2009). Explanation These findings could have a big impact on