Exercise as it relates to Disease/Conquering diabetes with daily exercise

This wiki is an analysis of the journal artificial titled " Exercise Therapy in Type 2 Diabetes: Is daily exercise required to optimize glycemic control?." by Van Dijk et al. (2012).

What Is The Background To This Research?

Diabetes defined by the World Health’s Organisation as a choric disease that occurs when the body does not produce enough or cannot utilise the insulin it produces. There are three main types of diabetes being Type 1,Type 2 and gestational diabetes. Diabetes can result in may complications in the body such as limb amputations, heart attacks, strokes, kidney disease, blindness, anxiety and depression.

The focus for this wiki is Type 2 diabetes that is a growing issue in today’s world with 85% of diabetes being type 2. It is a consequence of the bodies not producing enough insulin. It is often developed later in life and is often associated with obesity and physical inactivity. Exercise has been shown to have a major effect on long-term glycaemic control on type 2 diabetes. This is supported by the American Collage of Sports medicine that states that exercise should be performed at least 3 days a week and there should not be more the 2 days between exercise episodes. . As exercise does have such a influence on type 2 diabetes many research studies have been conducted on diabetes such as “Exercise Therapy in Type 2 Diabetes: Is daily exercise required to optimise glycemic control?."

Where Is The Research From?

This studies manuscript was written, designed and results collected by Jan-Willem Van Dijk and Luc J.C Van Loon. This allowed them to have full access to the data making them the guarantors of the research. As a consequence they take responsibility for the accuracy of the data analysis and the integrity of the data. The ethics committee of the Maastricht University Medical Centre approved all of this studies clinical experiments and no conflicts of interest were reported in regards to this study. The research was supported and funded by a grant from the Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development.

What Kind of Research Was This?

This research paper is an example of a randomised crossover study that consisted of three samples taken after being separated by at least four days. A cross over study is a type of clinical trail that is distributed in a longitudinal fashion in a random order. One of the benefits of a cross over study is that the participants act as their own control which allows for the recruitment process to be easier.

What Did The Research Involve?

The research involved thirty male type 2 diabetics that were both insulin treated and non-insulin treated. All participants were informed about the risks and concerns of the experiment before written consent was obtained.

All of the participants successfully completed three experimental daily, nondaily and control conditions. The interventions all consisted of 3 days, which 48-h blood glucose homeostasis was assessed from the impact of moderate intensity exercise.

During the daily intervention the participants performed two exercise sessions of 30 minutes each. The first 30 minutes was performed at the beginning of the 48 hours and the second 30 minutes of exercise was performed at the end. The nondaily intervention consisted of the participants performing one 60 minute session of exercise at the beginning of the 48hrs with the third condition performing no exercise at all.

What Were The Basic Results?

The basic results that we drawn from this research was that the risk of hyperglycaemia was reduced from 7:40± 1:00 h: min to 5:46 ± 0:58 when exercise was performed every other day or daily. There were no differences between the impact of daily of exercise and exercise performed every other day. Each participant’s fasting plasma glucose and insulin concentrations were assessed at the beginning of each day. As these levels did not differ between treatments or the on the second day, it is indicated that a single session of exercise did not affect the fasting plasma glucose or insulin concentrations. On day 1 the post breakfast plasma glucose and insulin concentrations showed a dose dependent effect after performing 30 and 60 minutes of exercise. Day 2 showed that post breakfast plasma glucose and insulin concentrations were lower in the exercise condition compared with the control. One interesting result found was that nondaily exercise group had a significantly lower post breakfast glucose concentration compared to the control group when a 60 minute session of exercise was performed the day prior.

What Conclusions Can We Take From This Research?

From this study we can conclude that a simple 30 minutes of exercise everyday or 60 minutes of exercise every other day significantly reduces hyperglycaemia levels during the subsequent day.

Practical Advice

As exercise has such a vital part in controlling hyperglycemic episodes in diabetes, people living with the condition should try to integrate exercise into their daily routine. As this paper demonstrated a simple 30 minutes of exercise or 60 minutes every second day can have a positive effect the next day of people’s hyperglycemic levels. As people with type 2 diabetes are usually overweight it is important to acknowledge this when considering practical advice. That is why it would be better for most people to participate in 30 minutes of quick exercise every day instead of 60 minutes of exercise every second. However this is only after they consult with their GP to determine if it is ok to participate in exercise especially if they live with other conditions such as cardiovascular diseases. If patients are unmotivated to participate in sport due to their weight, then exercises such a cycling or swimming can allow them achieve their daily activity a little easier while reducing the risk of injury. Regardless of the exercise people participate in; simply exercising will defiantly go a long way in bettering the lives of people living with type 2 diabetes.

Further Information

Diabetes Australia - Diabetesaustralia.com.au

Health Direct - Healthdirect.gov.au