In order of benefit, to improve length and quality of life, patients with type 2 diabetes benefit from these interventions, starting with smoking cessation:

"Glycemic control is stuck in people's minds as the primary goal of treatment, but evidence has existed since the 1970s that other interventions are of greater benefit," said senior author Allen Shaughnessy, Pharm.D., M.Med.Ed., professor of family medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine and fellowship director of the Tufts University Family Medicine Residency Program at Cambridge Health Alliance.