Rachel Lutz

Cutting calories doesn’t only help obese adults improve their quality of life (QOL), recent study results found.

, suggested that reducing caloric intake by 25% over 2 years can also improve quality of sleep and sex.

Researchers from the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, studied 220 nonobese adults (average age: 37.9 years, body mass index [BMI]: 22-28) for 2 years in order to test the effects of calorie restrictions on mood, overall QOL, sleep, and sexual function in nonobese adults.

The researchers collected data about BMI and mood at baseline, 12 months, and 24 months. The participants also completed questionnaires that measured mood, QOL, stress, sleep, and sexual function.

The adults who restricted calories lost an average of 16.7 pounds at the 2-year mark, compared with less than a pound lost among those in the control group by the end of the second year. The group with controlled caloric intake also reported improved mood, reduced tension, improved overall health, and a better sexual drive and relationship by the end of the study period.

The researchers linked the reported improvements to the increased vigor, reduced mood disturbance, improved general health, and better quality of sleep that are often associated with substantial weight loss.

“Calorie restriction among primarily overweight and obese persons has been found to improve QOL, sleep, and sexual function, and the results of the present study indicate that 2 years of [calorie restriction] is unlikely to negatively affect these factors in healthy adults; rather, calorie restriction is likely to provide some improvement,” the study authors wrote.

In an accompanying editorial, Tannaz Moin, MD, MBA, MSHS, of UCLA noted that more than one-third of the US population is obese. Dr. Moin added that interventions similar to the ones investigated in the

study are essential to managing the increasing rates of obesity.

“[The report] enhances our understanding of possible drivers of weight loss and propose additional angles with which to tackle the

Clinicians can let their patients know that the benefits of

extend beyond cardiovascular issues and diabetes prevention, as it can evidently improve more immediate QOL standards.

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Cutting calories doesnâ€™t only help obese adults improve their quality of life, recent study results found.

Controlling Caloric Intake Can Lead to Better Sleep and Sex

Health care providers looking to strengthen their diabetes prevention efforts must point out 2 essential strategies when counseling patients.

According to the CDC, 86 million individuals in the United States are estimated to have prediabetes, which increases the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and stroke.

that she believes type 2 diabetes progression can be reversed if patients make certain lifestyle changes.

“Patients come into my office complaining about the horrible effects of the disease and all the medications they have been prescribed,” Hall lamented. “Some patients are on half a dozen different prescriptions to treat everything from their blood sugar levels to their high blood pressure, high cholesterol, neuropathy and even sleep disorders. It’s heartbreaking.”

The experience Hall describes is all too common, but it’s well within the power of nurse practitioners and physician assistants to help reduce a patient’s risk for developing diabetes in the first place.

Kathleen M. Dailey, MS, FNP-C, a state practice manager for MinuteClinic,

that retail clinicians play an important role in community awareness about public health.

“The rapid increase in the number of pharmacy clinics is well-known, and their pharmacists, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants are the most accessible health care providers to community members,” Dr. Dailey said. “Among the wellness services offered at these community-based clinics are diabetes screening and monitoring, as well as weight management.”

Although they may seem obvious, effective prediabetes prevention can’t occur without the following 2 nonpharmacological prevention strategies:

Retail clinicians should make sure that prediabetes patients take the old adage “you are what you eat” to heart.

about the benefits of “fixing your gut to fix your overall health.” She offered the following “simple steps” to help get patients back on the right track:

Use healthy fats instead of inflammatory fats

Trade junk food for healthy nuts and fruit.

Clinicians can also advise hypertensive adults that

may increase their risk for prediabetes, especially those who drink more than 3 cups of coffee per day.

Most clinicians and patients alike recognize that exercise is a key component of diabetes prevention, but

Currently, the American Diabetes Association (ADA) recommends exercising 30 minutes per day, 5 days per week—the equivalent of 1000 to 1500 calories of exercise a week. For patients using a fitness track, this recommendation is equivalent to 20,000 to 30,000 walking step counts per week.

Aerobic exercise has been the mode traditionally advised for diabetes prevention.

has been shown to help obese patients reduce their diabetes risk.

Participants in a recent study were taught how to meditate and focus better on their eating and exercise habits. To reduce stress, they learned about sitting meditation, loving kindness, and yoga.

The participants were also taught how to enhance their awareness of hunger, stomach fullness, taste, cravings, emotions, and eating triggers. Meanwhile, the mindful exercise revolved around mindful walking, awareness of sensory experience, posture, and alignment.

The researchers behind the study, which was published in

, found that these mindfulness exercises had positive effects on 2 factors linked to diabetes and cardiovascular disease: fasting blood glucose and ratio of triglycerides to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels.

Exercise can not only help patients lose weight, but also improve the body’s overall function.

2 Critical Strategies to Prevent Diabetes

Current guidelines recommend delaying referrals for physical therapy, in part because previous research found that early aggressive therapy contributed to higher health care costs and did not seem to make significant improvements for patients. A recent

study adds to that body of evidence, as it found that early physical therapy for low back pain seems to make only modest improvements that do not lead to significant differences compared with usual care.

Researchers from the University of Utah in Salt Lake City recruited and randomized 220 patients with low back pain into 2 treatment groups to determine the effect that early physical therapy has on improving disability. The 18-to-60-year-old study participants had no back pain within the previous 6 months, an Oswestry Disability Index score of at least 20, and symptom duration of less than 16 days. Each patient received education before being randomized to early physical therapy (108 patients) or usual care (112 patients). The early physical therapy group attended 4 physical therapy sessions while the usual care group received no additional interventions over the first 4 weeks of the program.

The researchers found that after 3 months, the early physical therapy group showed improvement in disability measures compared with the control group. However, the researchers noted there was no significant difference in disability between the groups at the 1-year follow-up. In addition, pain intensity did not vary at the 4-week, 3-month, or 1-year follow-up interviews between the 2 treatment groups. Any differences found between the populations were modest, the investigators said.

Current guidelines recommend delaying referrals for physical therapy, in part because previous research found that early aggressive therapy contributed to higher health care costs and did not seem to make significant improvements for patients.

Rachel Lutz

Articles

Controlling Caloric Intake Can Lead to Better Sleep and Sex

2 Critical Strategies to Prevent Diabetes

Does Physical Therapy Timing Make a Difference in Treating Back Pain?