Long-term effect of intensive lifestyle intervention on cardiovascular risk factors in patients with diabetes in real-world clinical practice: a 5-year longitudinal study

Objective We evaluated long-term impact of sustained weight loss versus weight regain on cardiovascular risk factors in real-world clinical practice. Methods We evaluated 129 obese patients with diabetes enrolled in Weight Achievement and Intensive Treatment (Why WAIT) program, a 12-week clinical model of intensive lifestyle intervention. After 1 year, we divided participants into group A, who maintained Results The total cohort lost 23.8 lbs (−9.7%) at 12 weeks and maintained −16.2 lbs (−6.4%) at 5 years (p Conclusions Weight reduction in patients with diabetes can be maintained for 5 years and is predicted by patients’ ability to maintain ≥7% weight loss at 1 year. A1C and triglycerides deteriorate with weight regain, while other lipid improvements are maintained. Sustained weight loss is associated with significantly lower A1C for 5 years and lowers BP for 18 months. Trial registration number NCT01937845.