Exercise improves blood sugar control in diabetes
Participating in aerobic routines and resistance training is as effective as medication.
People with diabetes can improve their blood sugar control by doing aerobic and resistance exercises -- and the benefits are equivalent to taking a single anti-diabetes drug, a Canadian study has shown.
"It is worthwhile to get people to do this," says Dr. Ronald Sigal, the lead researcher and medical director of the diabetes clinic at the Ottawa Hospital. "The benefit would be roughly comparable to taking one medication."
Sigal says even slight improvements in blood sugar levels reap big rewards in terms of health by reducing the risk for heart disease and other complications.
The study involved 251 previously inactive people from age 39 to 70 who had the type 2, or adult, form of diabetes. In this condition, which is often associated with obesity, the body doesn't make enough of the hormone insulin or doesn't use it properly, leading to damaging levels of sugar in the blood.
The participants were randomly assigned to 22 weeks of aerobic exercise, resistance exercise, both types of exercise, or sedentary behaviour.
After six months, blood sugar levels and abdominal fat had decreased in all three exercise groups, but did not change in the sedentary group. "Those who were worse off in the beginning had a more dramatic improvement," Sigal says.
The exercise took place at local YMCAs and was supervised by personal trainers. Aerobic exercise progressed to 45 minutes three times a week at 75 per cent of maximum heart rate. Resistance training included two to three sets of eight exercises with weights, three times a week.
The personal trainers were particularly important for the resistance exercises, which people tend not to do properly on their own, Sigal says. He adds that resistance training can produce improvements in the body's metabolism that persist for a week after the exercise session.
Sigal pointed out that some diabetes medications lead to weight gain, whereas exercise won't. Exercise also provides heart benefits beyond reducing blood sugar levels.
One drawback of this type of treatment, of course, is that it is hard work for some people. "This is not generalizable to someone who adamantly refuses to exercise."
With files from The Medical Post.