MASSDEVICE ON CALL — The National Institutes of Health cut short the "Look AHEAD" trial 2 years ahead of schedule after demonstrating much lower rates of heart attack and strokes among both arms of the study, which involved more than 5,000 patients with diabetes who received either lifestyle intervention or diabetes education.
Both group benefited during the 11 years of follow-up, but there was little difference between the 2. The NIH and the study’s Data & Safety Monitoring Board determined that it was "extremely unlikely" that a difference would develop with the 2 additional years of observation originally planned.
The patients in the study will no longer receive the interventions, but NIH plans to continue its monitoring, according to a press release.
"While the specific data leading to this decision are not yet publicly available, it is important to recognize that this scaling back of the study does not question the value of weight loss in general," according to an NIH statement. "The science continues to support the idea that losing a modest amount of weight can have substantial health benefits for overweight and obese people, and the Look AHEAD trial has affirmed that for diabetics in particular."
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