ORLANDO, Fla. (Ivanhoe Newswire) — More than one in three adults in the U.S. are pre-diabetic. About 70 percent of them will go on to develop type-two diabetes. If left untreated, diabetes can lead to complications such as heart disease, nerve damage, kidney failure, blindness, and even amputations. However, lifestyle changes can reduce your diabetes risk. Ivanhoe has details on how one particular exercise can provide some of the greatest benefits.
About 34 million Americans are living with diabetes in the U.S. Eighty-eight million Americans are pre-diabetic, or on the verge of developing diabetes. But there are things pre-diabetics can do to stop diabetes in its tracks. In fact, new research from Michigan University has found strength training is an effective way to reduce diabetes risk. Exercises using resistance bands or free weights aids in weight loss and also in regulating blood sugar.
“If you’re not exercising and you’re gaining weight, your insulin needs don’t stay the same,” explained diabetic Kathleen Gagnier.
In the study, researchers found risk was significantly lower for those who stuck with the training at least 12 weeks. If you are a beginner to strength training, start small. Try exercises such as dumbbell deadlifts, Russian twists, and tricep dips and use lighter weights. Slowly work your way up to more weight as you get stronger.
A Mayo Clinic study has shown strength training can reduce someone’s risk of developing type-two diabetes as much as 32 percent. Studies have also shown that strength training can benefit those who have type-one diabetes, too.
Contributors to this news report include: Milvionne Chery, Producer; and Roque Correa, Editor.
SWEATING AWAY DIABETES?
REPORT #2888
BACKGROUND: Diabetes occurs when your blood glucose, or blood sugar, is too high. Blood glucose is the main source of energy and comes from the food you eat. Insulin is a hormone made by the pancreas and helps glucose from food get into cells to be used for energy. Some people’s body doesn’t make enough insulin or any insulin. Glucose then stays in the blood and doesn’t reach the cells. Over time, having too much glucose in your blood can cause health problems. Although diabetes has no cure, there are steps to manage diabetes and stay healthy. In type 1 diabetes, the body does not make insulin and the immune system attacks and destroys the cells in the pancreas that make insulin. With type 2 diabetes, the body does not make or use insulin well and most often occurs in middle-aged and older people.
(Source: https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/diabetes/overview/what-is-diabetes)
DIABETES AND EXERCISE: Exercise can lower blood sugar a few different ways: insulin sensitivity is increased, so your muscle cells are better able to use any available insulin to take up glucose during and after activity; and, when your muscles contract during activity, your cells are able to take up glucose and use it for energy whether insulin is available or not. When you regularly exercise, it can also lower your A1C. The effect physical activity has on your blood sugar will vary depending on how long you are active. Understanding patterns can help you prevent your blood sugar from going too high or too low. Things like becoming familiar with how your blood sugar responds to exercise, checking your blood sugar level more often before and after exercise to see the benefits of activity, and using the results of your blood sugar checks to see how your body reacts to different activities.
(Source: https://www.diabetes.org/healthy-living/fitness/getting-started-safely/blood-glucose-and-exercise)
NEW RESEARCH ON THE TIMING OF EXERCISE: Research published in Diabetes Care found a correlation between the timing of moderate-to-vigorous exercise and cardiovascular fitness, and health risks for individuals with type 2 diabetes and obesity. The team from Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Joslin Diabetes Center found that in its study of 2,035 people, men who performed physical activity in the morning had the highest risks of developing coronary heart disease (CHD), independent of the amount and intensity of weekly physical activity. Men most active midday had lower cardiorespiratory fitness levels. However, in women the team did not find an association between specific activity timing and CHD risk or cardiorespiratory fitness. “The general message for our patient population remains that you should exercise whenever you can as regular exercise provides significant benefits for health,” said corresponding author Jingyi Qian of the Division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders at Brigham and an instructor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. “But researchers studying the effects of physical activity should take into account timing as an additional consideration so that we can give better recommendations to the general public about how time of day may affect the relationship between exercise and cardiovascular health.”
(Source: https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2021/02/timing-of-exercise-impacts-men-with-type-2-diabetes/)
* For More Information, Contact:
Dan Collins, Public Relations
Free weekly e-mail on Medical Breakthroughs from Ivanhoe. To sign up: http://www.ivanhoe.com/ftk
