By Cynthia Grau/WJEZ News

A new program will be coming to OSF Saint James – John W. Albrecht Medical Center that may make a difference to those suffering with pre-diabetes.

“Power of Prevention” is a program that studies a group of pre-diabetic patients taking popular drug Metformin against a group of people with pre-diabetes making lifestyle changes, such as more exercise and diet.

Mary Heath, manager of education at St. James, said this 16-week study will come to Pontiac, with an informational meeting and kickoff in late February, and ultimately, all participants’ results will be presented to the CDC for recognition. There have been several study groups around the nation, which have resulted in interesting results.

“The results of that study were so good, the study was actually stopped before it was completed. The results were astounding in that even a modest weight loss, and I’m talking about five to seven percent of your weight, so it’s not huge amounts – they reduced their chances of developing diabetes by 58 percent, and when they put it up against Metformin, Metformin reduced their chances by 31 percent. One group got Metformin and the other group made lifestyle changes, and the lifestyle changes won out,” Heath said.

This is a free program for people who are pre-diabetic. For more information or to sign up for the limited class sizes, call 815-842-4970.