Liva Healthcare, a digital health platform designed to tackle chronic diseases, has released promising results on the effectiveness of digital interventions to help with weight loss and prevention of Type 2 diabetes.
Liva Healthcare monitored the progress of 136 patients using its digital healthcare app to prevent and roll back Type 2 diabetes over a nine-month period.
Over the period, 82% of the patients (112) lost weight, losing an average of 6.3kg and demonstrating signs of a successful lifestyle intervention.
Encouragingly patients appear to be losing more weight, and faster, than previous studies with digital health interventions have shown. For instance, one study1 found patients to have a sustained weight loss of 7kg over 20 months though web-based interventions.
A second study2 found patients with Type 2 diabetes lost 5.6kg over 12 months through web-based interventions, compared to a control group who received standard diabetes care and lost on average 2.8kg.
If the patients using the Liva Healthcare platform continue on their current trajectory, the results will be evidence of the effectiveness of digital interventions.
Through an app and desktop platform, Liva Healthcare provides a digital health coaching program for those with, and at risk of, chronic lifestyle diseases such as obesity and Type 2 diabetes.
In addition to one-to-one goal setting and coaching, the platform provides self-monitoring health tools and online peer-to-peer support groups to assist patients in adopting and maintaining healthy lifestyle behaviors.
Type 2 diabetes can be conquered with weight loss management
The weight loss achieved by Liva Healthcare’s patients is promising for tackling obesity and the prevention of Type 2 diabetes.
Research has shown that between 65% - 80% of new cases of diabetes are attributed to patients being overweight or obese3. Finding interventions to help tackle obesity is therefore key, with an estimated 4.5million people4 in the UK currently affected by Type 2 diabetes.
In addition, the effects of weight loss have been shown to have a strong correlation with Type 2 diabetes remission.
A recent study5 reported that, after 12 months, 45% of weight loss patients achieved remission to a non-diabetic state off antidiabetic medication. Suggesting that weight management schemes, such as that supported through Liva Healthcare, can achieve drug-free remission of Type 2 diabetes.
Liva Healthcare was recently announced as a provider in the digital stream of the Healthier You: NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme. The pilot scheme is providing digital health interventions to over 5,000 patients at risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.
Digital intervention: a successful way to implement weight loss management
Dr Carl Brandt, research unit for General Practice, University of Southern Denmark and co-founder of Liva Healthcare, commented on the results:
“Whilst it is early days, these latest weight loss figures are incredibly exciting and show the role that digital health interventions can play in tackling chronic lifestyle diseases. What’s more, research is showing the impact that weight management can have on the prevention, and even remission, of Type 2 diabetes.”
He continued:
Type 2 diabetes is a huge pressure on the UK’s health service – not just in terms of the number of people but also in terms of the cost of treating patients. In response, digital innovations, such as Liva Healthcare, are coming to the fore in an effort to drive change by targeting the root cause: people’s lifestyle. Digital interventions offer a cost effective and scalable solution to provide long-term programmes that can help roll back and potentially remove Type 2 diabetes.”
References:
- Brandt, V., Brandt, C. J., Glintborg, D., Arendal, C., Toubro, S., & Brandt, K. (2011). Sustained weight loss during 20 months using a personalized interactive internet based dietician advice program in a general practice setting. International Journal on Advances in Life Sciences, 3(1), 2.
- Haste, A., Adamson, A. J., McColl, E., Araujo-Soares, V., & Bell, R. (2017). Web-based weight loss intervention for men with type 2 diabetes: Pilot randomized controlled trial. JMIR Diabetes, 2(2), e14.
- World Health Organisation. Diabetes and data and statistics. Copenhagen, Denmark: WHO Office For Europe; 2017.
- https://www.diabetes.org.uk/professionals/position-statements-reports/statistics/diabetes-prevalence-2016
- Lean, M. E., Leslie, W. S., Barnes, A. C., Brosnahan, N., Thom, G., McCombie, L., ... & Rodrigues, A. M. (2017). Primary care-led weight management for remission of type 2 diabetes (DiRECT): an open-label, cluster-randomized trial. The Lancet.
Liva Healthcare appoints Dr Roger Henderson to tackle Type 2 diabetes