March 1, 2002

Some Boston-area patients representing a wide variety of backgrounds are putting their New Year's resolutions to the test. The group of approximately 40 men and women are expanding upon their pledge — to lose weight and increase exercise — by enrolling in the first long-term study to examine the effects of weight loss in people with type 2 diabetes.

The study — dubbed Look AHEAD (Action for Health in Diabetes) — began screening participants last July, and is locally conducted at the MGH, Joslin Diabetes Center and Beth Israel-Deaconess Medical Center. The three institutions jointly comprise one of the study's 16 research sites across the country, and hope to enroll 313 volunteers during the next two years. Approximately 5,000 volunteers will be involved in the study nationwide. Funded by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Look AHEAD is the largest study on the effects of weight-loss interventions ever funded by the NIH.

The study is a randomized clinical trial of an intensive lifestyle intervention program designed to promote weight loss through reduced calorie intake and regular exercise. Look AHEAD will evaluate how the lifestyle interventions affect risk of heart attack, stroke and cardiovascular disease. The intervention program will be compared to a program involving general diabetes support and education.

People who are between 45 and 75 years of age, have type 2 diabetes and are classified as overweight or obese are eligible to participate in Look AHEAD. Qualified applicants will be assigned randomly either to the lifestyle program or to the diabetes support and education program. Participants will be followed for up to 11 1/2 years, with researchers tracking cardiovascular risk factors, diabetes control and complications, general health and quality of life.

"We have an enormous opportunity to learn more about the role long-term weight loss can play in improving the health of overweight individuals with type 2 diabetes," says David Nathan, MD, director of the MGH Diabetes Center and local principal investigator of Look AHEAD. "We know that short-term weight loss can benefit overweight people with diabetes and that weight loss can prevent type 2 diabetes. In Look AHEAD, we hope to learn whether it also can improve the long-term health of overweight people who have diabetes."

For more information about Look AHEAD, call (866) 223-8644 or visit www.lookaheadstudy.org.