Online program from Turnaround Health lowers risk of diabetes
Study shows reduced blood glucose at 6 months, through better eating, physical activity and weight loss
BERKELEY, Calif., Oct. 27, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- A federally funded study has found that persons using a new online program successfully lowered their blood glucose and Hemoglobin A1c levels. The randomized controlled trial also found that participants lost more weight and reduced their waist size. Alive-PD, developed by Turnaround Health (www.turnaroundhealth.com), guides people to improve their eating habits and physical activity in weekly small steps keyed to their own lifestyle. It is unique in being a diabetes prevention program that is fully computer-driven. The study was published in the open-access Journal of Medical Internet Research, http://www.jmir.org/2015/10/e240/.
The study was a collaboration between Turnaround Health and the Palo Alto Medical Foundation (PAMF), with funding from the National Institute of Nursing Research. "We recruited 339 participants who had pre-diabetes, a condition in which their blood glucose is elevated but not yet high enough to be diabetes," said Kristen Azar RN MSN/MPH, a nurse researcher at PAMF and co-investigator on the study. "We measured their blood and body measurements every three months."
"Some of the changes were really impressive," said Dr. Gladys Block, emerita professor at University of California, Berkeley, and Scientific Director of Turnaround Health. "The Alive-PD group reduced their fasting glucose by over 7 mg/dL, compared with about 2 mg/dL in the control group," she said. "The interesting thing is that these changes didn't involve dieting or calorie-counting. It was all about starting where you are now, and making gradual changes."
"We have to reach the 86 million American adults who have pre-diabetes," said Torin Block, CEO of Turnaround Health. "Because our program is fully automated, requiring no personal coaching, it can reach large numbers of at-risk individuals affordably. And, as this study showed, it can reach them effectively, helping people turn their health around and prevent diabetes," he said.
Dr. Gladys Block, the lead researcher, was interviewed about the program at the American Diabetes Association annual meeting. The four-minute YouTube video can be seen at http://bit.ly/1XmBENN.
Contact:
Gladys Block, lead author, [email protected], 510-301-2984.
Torin Block, CEO, [email protected], 510-704-8514.
Kristen Azar, coinvestigator, [email protected], 650-614-3246.
About:
Turnaround Health, a small business in Berkeley, California, developed the low-cost diabetes prevention program, Alive-PD. Turnaround Health is currently providing the program to the Alaska Diabetes Prevention and Control Program.
RELATED LINKS:
http://www.turnaroundhealth.com/AboutAlivePD
http://www.nutritionquest.com
http://www.alaskahealthfair.org/
Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CLIf3Et7VU&index=10&list=PL9CZabk3nD4HqrFPClhzvAMG1f80tllsR
SOURCE Turnaround Health
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