Research published in the current issue of the Journal of the American Heart Association shows that moderate exercise can reduce cardiovascular disease deaths in people with type 2 diabetes, even if that activity comes from work or traveling to and from work.
The protective effects of exercise are not limited to leisure-time activities, said senior author Jaakko Tuomilehto, M.D., Ph.D., professor, Diabetes and Genetic Epidemiology Unit in the National Public Health Institute in Helsinki, Finland.
Diabetes increases the risk of heart disease and stroke. It is a condition where the body can no longer control its blood sugar level. Without adequate control the level tends to rise dramatically and remains high. Over time, these high levels can result in damage to blood vessels leading to heart disease, stroke, blindness, kidney failure, impotence, circulatory problems and nerve damage.
“Regular physical activity should be part of standard treatment for diabetic patients. People with diabetes need to look for ways to build activity into their work, their commuting to and from work and also their leisure time,” Tuomilehto said. “Physical activity during commuting is one of the easiest, least-time consuming ways to promote health.”
“We know that type 2 diabetes can be prevented or at least postponed by physical activity and a healthy diet, but too often people think only of leisure-time physical training or other aerobic activities,” Tuomilehto said.
Diabetes is caused by an alteration in the metabolism of carbohydrates due to a deficiency in production of the hormone insulin by the pancreas. Insulin helps cells use sugar as a fuel and also transforms it into energy.
There are two forms of diabetes: Type 1, or insulin-dependent diabetes, in which a person has to keep track of insulin levels with daily injections, and Type 2, which is not dependent on insulin.
Ninety percent of diabetics suffer from Type 2 diabetes, which is also known as "silent diabetes." It usually develops in people over 40, with limited or no symptoms. However, increasing levels of obesity in the population have resulted in Type 2 diabetes appearing more frequently in adolescents and in young adults.
Although occupational, commuting and leisure-time physical activity has been associated with reductions in cardiovascular disease (CVD) deaths in the general population, this is the first large, long-term prospective study among people with type 2 diabetes, said lead researcher Gang Hu, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H.
Researchers reviewed data on 3,316 people ages 25 to 74 who had type 2 diabetes and participated in national surveys of randomly selected samples in the Finnish population between 1972 and 1997. The data included results from questionnaires on heart disease risk factors such as smoking, medical history and the level of physical activity on the job, on the way to and from work, and during leisure time.
Work activity was divided into three exercise levels: light (easy physical work and sitting, e.g., office work); moderate (walking and lifting light objects, e.g., store clerk) and active (walking and lifting, heavy manual labor).
Light commuting was defined as using motorized transportation; moderate was walking or bicycling up to 29 minutes daily; active commuting was walking or cycling 30 minutes or more per day. Light leisure activity was almost completely inactive, such as reading or watching TV. Moderate was more than four hours each week of walking, cycling or light gardening and active was more than three hours of vigorous activity per week such as swimming, running or jogging.