Recent research shows that people who are newly diagnosed with type II diabetes can gain better control over their health if they lose weight. While that isn't terribly surprising, what is surprising is that the benefits seem to last even if the patient gains back some of the weight. Losing some excess pounds helps people with type II diabetes better control blood sugar, blood pressure, and cholesterol.

In the study, more than 2,000 people recently diagnosed with type II diabetes were followed for four years. 12% of those patients lost a mean of 25 pounds. Other groups either gained weight or their weight remained stable. Within 36 months almost all of the patients who had lost weight had regained it. Surprisingly, those patients continued to have better blood sugar and blood pressure control at the end of the four-year study -- even though their weight had been regained.

Obviously, this isn't an argument for losing and regaining weight. Researchers don't know how long the benefits would last after the four-year mark. The best bet for people with type II diabetes (or anyone for that matter) is to lose their excess weight and keep it off for good.

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Of those diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, almost all had "pre-diabetes" before-hand. Pre-diabetes is defined as blood glucose levels that are higher than normal, but not high enough to actually be diabetes. There may be as many as 54 million people in the U.S. that have pre-diabetes, and it's important to know if you're one of them for 2 main reasons: research suggests that internal damage to arteries and organs may already be happening in the pre-diabetes stage, and it's possible to prevent full-blown type 2 diabetes from ever developing if you take steps to manage your blood sugar early.

So how do you know if you have pre-diabetes? Testing your blood sugar at home isn't the way to go, instead you should see your doctor and have either a fasting plasma glucose test (FPG) or an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). As far as treatment if you do have it? Expect your doctor to recommend some diet and exercise strategies, as most people have positive results with losing as little as 10 pounds.

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