Diabetes is a disease where blood glucose (blood sugar) levels are higher than normal. This is due to a lack of insulin or an inability to use insulin effectively. Having high blood glucose levels over long periods of time can lead to very serious health problems. Problems include things such as heart attack, stroke, and blindness.
Currently, it is estimated that 24 million Americans have diabetes as was discussed in our recent blog recognizing National Diabetes Month.
Type 2 diabetes accounts for about 90% of all cases of diabetes. Type 2 diabetes used to be called adult onset diabetes. The main causes include genetics, upper body obesity, and sedentary lifestyle. Regular physical activity has long been known to be helpful in the prevention and treatment of type 2 diabetes.
However, less is known about the type of exercise (aerobic vs. resistance training vs. both) that is most effective in the treatment of this disease. In the November 24, 2010 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, Dr. Tim Church and colleagues published an important study regarding this issue1. Two hundred sixty two sedentary adult men and women with type 2 diabetes and an average age of 56 years were enrolled in the 9-month study. The group was split into 4 subgroups as follows:
An important point to be made here is that all 3 exercise groups were physically active for approximately the same number of minutes per week. For Groups 2 and 4, the grade (steepness) of the treadmill was increased weekly. For Groups 3 and 4, the prescribed amount of weight was increased weekly. All exercise sessions were closely supervised.
Before we talk about the results, you need to understand the following: The best measure of blood glucose control for people with diabetes is called the hemoglobin A1c test. This simple but very important blood test shows what the average blood glucose level has been for the past 3 months. The goal for people with diabetes is to have a hemoglobin A1c value of less than 7%.
OK, so what happened? First, all 3 exercise groups lost a little bit of body fat and modestly decreased their waist circumference. A more important finding was that although groups 2 and 4 increased their cardiovascular fitness level, the change was only statistically significant in the combined aerobic and resistance training group.
The most important finding was that although all three exercise groups decreased their hemoglobin A1c values as compared to the control group, the change was only statistically significant in Group 4 (combined aerobic and resistance training). The researchers concluded that among patients with type 2 diabetes, a combination of aerobic and resistance training improves hemoglobin A1c levels to a greater extent than either aerobic training or resistance training alone. While nearly all forms of physical activity are beneficial for people with type 2 diabetes, the greatest ‘bang for the buck’ was seen when these individuals performed both aerobic and resistance training.
Share your success stories regarding treatment of type 2 diabetes on our Facebook page.
1Church TS, Blair SN, Cocreham S, et al. (2010). Effects of aerobic and resistance training on hemoglobin A1c levels in patients with type 2 diabetes: a randomized controlled trial. JAMA: 304(20):2253-62.
