Impact of remission from type 2 diabetes on long-term health outcomes: findings from the Look AHEAD study

Aims/hypothesis We examined the association of attainment of diabetes remission in the context of a 12 year intensive lifestyle intervention with subsequent incidence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and CVD. Methods The Look AHEAD study was a multi-centre RCT comparing the effect of a 12 year intensive lifestyle intervention with that of diabetes support and education on CVD and other long-term health conditions. We compared the incidence of CVD and CKD among 4402 and 4132 participants, respectively, based on achievement and duration of diabetes remission. Participants were 58% female, and had a mean age of 59 years, a duration of diabetes of 6 year and BMI of 35.8 kg/m 2 . We applied an epidemiological definition of remission: taking no diabetes medications and having HbA 1c <48 mmol/mol (6.5%) at a single point in time. We defined high-risk or very high-risk CKD based on the Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) criteria, and CVD incidence as any occurrence of non-fatal acute myocardial infarction, stroke, admission for angina or CVD death. Results Participants with evidence of any remission during follow-up had a 33% lower rate of CKD (HR 0.67; 95% CI 0.52, 0.87) and a 40% lower rate of the composite CVD measure (HR 0.60; 95% CI 0.47, 0.79) in multivariate analyses adjusting for HbA 1c , BP, lipid levels, CVD history, diabetes duration and intervention arm, compared with participants without remission. The magnitude of risk reduction was greatest for participants with evidence of longer-term remission. Conclusions/interpretation Participants with type 2 diabetes with evidence of remission had a substantially lower incidence of CKD and CVD, respectively, compared with participants who did not achieve remission. This association may be affected by post-baseline improvements in weight, fitness, HbA 1c and LDL-cholesterol. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00017953 Data availability https://repository.niddk.nih.gov/studies/look-ahead/ Graphical Abstract