Lifestyle changes like diet and exercise may not only prevent type 2 diabetes but may reverse it, according to a Brigham Young University study published today in the Journal of the American Association of Occupational Health Nurses.

The vast majority of diabetes cases — 94 percent — are type 2, which typically develops later in life and can lead to many complications, including blindness, limb amputation and kidney disease. It sometimes kills.

Estimates say as many as 9 percent of Americans have type 2 diabetes, some of them without knowing it. "There have been great randomized clinical trials that looked at this very issue and which have proven with little doubt that (type 2 diabetes) is a lifestyle issue," said Steve Aldana, BYU professor of health and human performance and author of "The Culprit and the Cure." "What we don't have is anybody doing anything about it."

Read more about Brigham Young University study on diabetes diet at http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,635158018,00.html.