Objective: We previously reported long term effectiveness of a very low carbohydrate intervention including nutritional ketosis (VLCI) delivered via continuous remote care (CRC) for improving weight and glycemia at 2 years in people with type 2 diabetes (T2D) . We assessed 5-year changes to determine if the intervention is sustainable, durable, and effective over a longer period of time.
Research Design and Methods: Patients with T2D who were initially enrolled in a 2 year non-randomized, controlled clinical trial received a CRC emphasizing a VLCI. These patients were offered to continue for an additional 3 years of prospective follow-up. Of the 200 patients completing 2 years, 169 (84.5%) patients consented to the extension and 122 (72.2%) were retained at 5 years. Among those who extended, baseline versus 5 year differences in weight and glycemic outcomes were assessed using linear mixed effects models in an intent-to-treat analysis. P-values were adjusted using Holm-Bonferroni correction.
Results: At five years, there were persistent improvements in weight from 116.4 to 107.6 kg (-8.8 kg, 95%CI [-11.0, -6.6]) , fasting insulin from 25.8 to 24.5 mIU/L (-7.9 mIU/L, 95%CI [-10.0, -5.8]) , and HOMA-IR from 9.1 to 6.6 (-2.5, 95%CI [-3.5, -1.5]) (all adjusted p-values <0.05) . Total diabetes medications were reduced 46.6%, and 59.9% excluding metformin were deprescribed. The percent of patients prescribed diabetes medications significantly decreased at 5 years (from 85.2% to 71.3%; p<0.01) , including patients taking sulfonylureas (from 27.0% to 4.9%) , insulin (from 26.2% to 13.1%) , and SGLT2i (from 10.7% to 2.5%) . Despite less medication use, HbA1c improved from 7.5 to 7.2% (-0.3%, 95%CI [-0.6, 0.0], unadjusted p-value<0.05) .
Conclusions: Over 5 years follow-up, the VLCI with CRC showed excellent retention, sustained clinically significant weight loss, and stable glycemic control with reduced dependency on antidiabetes medications.
S.J.Athinarayanan: Employee; Virta Health Corp. S.Phinney: Employee; Virta Health Corp. M.Vantieghem: Employee; Virta Health Corp., Stock/Shareholder; Virta Health Corp. A.L.Mckenzie: Employee; Virta Health Corp., Stock/Shareholder; Virta Health Corp. S.Hallberg: Advisory Panel; Atkins Nutritionals Inc., Employee; Virta Health Corp., Stock/Shareholder; Virta Health Corp. C.G.P.Roberts: Employee; Virta Health Corp., Stock/Shareholder; Virta Health Corp. B.M.Volk: Employee; Virta Health Corp., Stock/Shareholder; Virta Health Corp. R.N.Adams: Employee; Virta Health Corp. R.E.Ratner: Employee; Virta Health Corp. J.Volek: Advisory Panel; Abbott Diagnostics, Simply Good Foods, Stock/Shareholder; Virta Health Corp.
