Diet, Metformin Save Medical Cost for Prediabetes Patients

People with prediabetes can save thousands of dollars in medical costs by taking the diabetes drug metformin or making lifestyle changes, a new study shows.

Treatment with the inexpensive drug metformin, which lowers blood sugar level, reduced costs by $1,700 over a decade, the researchers say. Intensive lifestyle changes, such as participating in tailored weight loss and exercise programs, saved $2,600 per person.




The study also showed that people who ate right and exercised had the highest scores on quality-of-life questionnaires that measure physical and mental functioning.

The cost savings are in line with other standard prevention strategies such as childhood immunizations and beta-blocker treatment in people who have had a heart attack, says William Herman, MD, professor of internal medicine at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

The interventions should be offered to all people at high risk of developing diabetes, he tells WebMD.  About 79 million Americans have prediabetes and are at high risk, according to the CDC.
Herman presented the study here at the annual meeting of the American Diabetes Association.

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