美国国家公共电台 NPR This Chef Lost 50 Pounds And Reversed Prediabetes With A Digital Program

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Medical researchers are hoping that a smartphone can help to prevent Type 2 diabetes 1. A program that helps people is delivered by phone. And NPR's Allison Aubrey reports on how it works.

ALLISON AUBREY, BYLINE 2: Sometimes a good motivation for change is fear. Don Speranza knows this. About a year ago, he heard from his doctor with some test results.

DON SPERANZA: She sent me an email that was like a gut 3 punch.

AUBREY: Based on his weight, which had crept up to 210 pounds, and his bloodwork, he had pre-diabetes. This means his blood sugar was elevated but not yet high enough to be diagnosed with the condition.

SPERANZA: It was a real come-to-Jesus meeting for me. I mean, I was really sick to my stomach.

AUBREY: So here's what he had to get his head around. If he could lose weight, a significant amount, he could get his blood sugar back in the normal range and fend 4 off the disease. Mark Greenwood, a physician with Intermountain Healthcare, says when people change their habits, it can be transformative.

MARK GREENWOOD: You can either delay or, in some cases, prevent diabetes. And both are, of course, victories, if you will.

AUBREY: So how can a smartphone help people pull this off? Well, studies show that in order to make big changes - to lose 5 to 7 percent of your body weight - people need help. They need education and counseling, typically offered in a class setting or a doctor's office. They also need a coach and peer support. But Don Speranza had access to none of this. He lives on a farm along the Columbia River in Washington. He runs a small B&B, and he's the chef there. The closest city is an hour away, so it would not be easy to go to a class.

SPERANZA: Yeah, I was kind of lost as to what to do. I knew I needed to do something.

AUBREY: So, through his doctor, he signed up for a digital program designed by Omada Health. It offers all the components 5 of lifestyle change, online and electronically. The first thing that happened, Omada sent him a digital scale. Each day, he'd weigh himself and upload the data to a dashboard. He used a wearable device to track his exercise. He also documented what he ate. The program also provides an online coach who he could text back and forth 6 with. She could see all of his data and give him advice.

SPERANZA: Oh, my coach, I can't sing her praises enough - what a cheerleader she was.

AUBREY: Even though they never met in person, they bonded 7. He took her advice. He realized, for instance, that he ate way too much of the wrong things.

SPERANZA: The homemade breads and croissants and pizza.

AUBREY: He loves these things, but he had to change his relationship with all these foods. Temporarily, he cut out all those refined carbohydrates 8 and trained himself not to eat all the treats he bakes for his guests. And he began to fill his plate with more protein and vegetables.

SPERANZA: Week by week, kind of one or two little changes at a time. That was a game changer.

AUBREY: The weight began to fall off. And he started to move more. His coach nudged him to switch up his morning routine.

SPERANZA: I'll start the coffee, but I'll go outside and I'll walk for 2,000 steps before I have my coffee.

AUBREY: Two thousand steps became 4,000, and he added in a daily bike ride. Now he has lost 50 pounds, and his blood sugar has returned to normal. He no longer has pre-diabetes.

SPERANZA: Oh, my gosh. You know, I'd buy flour by the 50-pound sacks. And I look at that, and I'm aghast to think that's what I was carrying around.

AUBREY: Speranza is not alone. Of the 200 people enrolled 9 in a pilot study with Intermountain Healthcare, about 75 percent completed Omada's digital program and lost at least 5 percent of their body weight.

GREENWOOD: Honestly, this has been one of the most exciting things to me in my practice of medicine in the last few years.

AUBREY: That's Intermountain's Mark Greenwood.

GREENWOOD: When you give people tools and help instead of just preaching to them, people respond.

AUBREY: An estimated 84 million adults in the U.S. have pre-diabetes, so there are plenty of people who may also benefit from programs like this one. Allison Aubrey, NPR News.