Dietary management of maturity-onset diabetes

Dietary management of maturity-onset diabetes is a basic medical concept. It is difficult to study scientifically because of variable eating habits and the impossibility of rigorous measurement. The non-insulin-requiring diabetic patient is often managed by the family doctor, who may not have access to dietetic assistance, and assessment of the success of simple but careful dietary measures is infrequent. We have taken a special interest in this group of patients, and find that most maturity-onset diabetic patients can be satisfactorily managed on diet only. In a group of 58 such patients there was a significant fall in mean weight and fasting plasma glucose and triglyceride concentrations after six months, which persisted for up to three years. This achievement was chiefly due to those patients who were graded as "good" in their dietary adherence, but less good dieting still achieved weight loss, though plasma glucose and triglyceride concentrations did not fall so low. The clinical dietitian has played a central part in this study.