Physical Activity Lowers Heart Risks in Diabetes

Increased physical activity has significant benefits for people with type 2 diabetes. Italian researchers randomly assigned more than 600 sedentary subjects with type 2 diabetes to get supervised resistance and aerobic training as well as counseling on exercise or to get exercise counseling alone. Those who got counseling alone served as the control group.
After a year, nearly all of the people in the study reported more physical activity, but those who had to show up at the gym were getting significantly more than before. They also got measurable benefits: their Hemoglobin A1c scores were lower, indicating better blood sugar control. They lost weight and a bit more than an inch from their waistlines. Blood pressure dropped, physical fitness rose and cholesterol improved. The exercisers were more likely to have reduced their reliance on insulin and to need less blood pressure and cholesterol medication. The investigators conclude: “twice-weekly, supervised, facility-based combined aerobic and resistance exercise had significant incremental benefits beyond those of exercise counseling alone.”
[Archives of Internal Medicine, Nov 8, 2010]