Weight Loss Counseling Added to Group Visits.

For people with difficult-to-control diabetes, adding intensive weight management counseling to group medical visits provides extra health benefits beyond improved blood-sugar control, according to a study led by William Yancy, director of the Duke University Diet & Fitness Center and research associate at North Carolina's Durham VA Medical Center.

The weight counseling approach emphasizes a low-carb diet, with participants logging better weight loss, less use of diabetes medications, and fewer potentially dangerous episodes of plummeting blood sugar levels compared to study participants who only attended group diabetes sessions.

"Group medical visits are an increasingly popular way to care for diabetes patients," says Yancy. "This approach...