Can aerobic exercise improve the ability of people with type 2 diabetes (what we used to call ‘adult onset’ diabetes) gain better ‘glycemic control’? 

 

In easier English, this study is looking at whether people with diabetes who take part in a supervised exercise regimen for six months can improve their bodies’ ability to handle sugars.  The study will collect information about how exercise affects blood composition, body composition, and quality of life.  If there are positive effects, the researchers believe that it will support the idea that exercise helps to delay or decrease the health-related complications of diabetes.

 

To qualify to participate in this study, people had to be between 40 and 70 years of age, have type 2 diabetes, but to able to treat their diabetes with oral agents or diet alone.  It started in 1999, was completed in January 2006, and will publish first complete data in fall of 2006.

 

This study is one of a group of similar small studies that have looked at this issue.  The research team published an article that summarized the other studies and concluded that “exercise training reduces [diabetes-related blood factors] by an amount that should decrease the risk of diabetic complications…” [emphasis added.  See Boule NG, Haddad E, Kenny GP, Wells GA, Sigal RJ., Clinical Epidemiology Unit, Ottawa Health Research Institute].

 

This study is one of many that are looking at how lifestyle affects diabetes and/or the prevention of diabetes.  A much larger clinical trial called AHEAD (Action for Health in Diabetes) is just beginning to test the healthy lifestyle hypothesis with 5,000 participants, and will run over the next eleven years.

 

The Hilton Head Health Institute bases its Healthy Lifestyle program on research like this.  As these studies progress, we are monitoring them for specific information to help us refine or confirm our program.  Eventually, we will begin to know more about exactly how much of what kind of exercise is effective, and what specific types of people need which kinds of exercise. 

 

Until that time, we continue to reflect the growing body of knowledge that points increasingly to the importance of ongoing vigorous exercise as a crucial component of the Healthy Lifestyle.