London, October 29 (ANI): The best possible way to keep diabetes at bay is to maintain a healthy lifestyle with a balanced diet and ingestion of everyday cheap pill, according to a new US study.

The Diabetes Prevention Program study, based on the progress of 3,000 at-risk patients, claims that losing weight and taking a regular drug can keep the disease at bay for as long as 10 years.

The conclusion was reached after the observation of the patients who were put on one of the three different treatments- a healthy lifestyle, a dose of metformin or a placebo.

It was noted that after 10 years, a good lifestyle cut down the diabetes risk by 58 per cent, while metformin reduced it by 31 per cent, reports the Daily Express.

However, experts are of the opinion that in many cases it was the combination of both that led to positive results.

The cheap pill also comes as a relief since, the cost of drugs to treat diabetes in Britain make the single biggest bill for GPs, at 600million pounds a year.

The study published in the 'The Lancet' further noted that overweight patients are at a greater risk of diabetes. (ANI)