Aerobic Exercise With High-Force Eccentric Resistance - In Diabetes Patients

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The below article may be of interest:

Combining Aerobic Exercise With High-Force Eccentric Resistance

Training Improves Glucose Control In Diabetes Patients

Article Date: 02 Nov 2008 - 0:00 PDT

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/127776.php

Patients with diabetes who participate in a program combining aerobic

and high-force eccentric resistance exercise demonstrate improvements

in glucose control, physical performance, and body fat composition,

according to a study published in the November 2008 issue of Physical

Therapy (PTJ), the scientific journal of the American Physical

Therapy Association (APTA).

" Although aerobic exercise is what is typically recommended for

treating people with diabetes, this study shows that adding a high-

force strength training component has significant advantages, " says

APTA spokesperson Robin L Marcus, PT, PhD, OCS, assistant professor

at the University's Department of Physical Therapy and the study's

lead researcher. Diabetes affects approximately 24 million adults and

children in the United States.¹ The onset of type 2 diabetes - a

chronic illness marked by decreased insulin sensitivity and overall

poor glucose control - is fostered by decreased physical activity.

" This study, which comes as the nation marks American Diabetes Month,

is especially pertinent in light of new research highlighting the

escalating costs and serious side effects of certain diabetes drugs, "

said Marcus. " Patients with diabetes and their health care providers

should be encouraged that physical therapy has been shown to be a

cost-effective and safe treatment alternative. "

The PTJ study, " Comparison of Combined Aerobic and High-Force

Eccentric Resistance Exercise With Aerobic-Only Exercise for People

With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus, " evaluated 15 people with type 2

diabetes who participated in a 16-week supervised exercise training

program: seven in a combined aerobic and eccentric resistance

exercise program, and eight in a program of aerobic exercise only.

A podcast titled " Fat, Muscle, and the Benefits of Exercise for

People With Diabetes " is available at:

www.ptjournal.org/misc/podcasts.dtl. The podcast highlights PTJ's

Diabetes Special Issue: " People With Diabetes: A Population Desperate

for Movement. " (November 2008). Marcus and other experts discuss new

information about the roles of fat in people with diabetes,

especially fat in muscle, and about how this fat appears to impair

muscle function. Running time: 24:29 (11,487 KB).

LaStayo, PT, PhD, the study's senior author, notes that the

eccentric resistance exercise program was specifically designed to

increase strength and muscle size, using a recumbent stepper that

produced a lengthening contraction, such as when lowering the

dumbbell in a bicep curl.

After 3 months, Marcus and LaStayo found that both groups showed

improved glucose control and physical performance in a 6-minute walk,

as well as a decrease in fat composition within the leg

muscles. " This study is particularly interesting because the patients

who did both aerobic and resistance exercise had additional

improvements, most notably a decreased overall BMI and a gain in leg

muscle, " Marcus said.

" Although aerobic exercise is still key in treating diabetes, it

should not be used in isolation, " Marcus observes. " As people age,

they lose muscle mass and, subsequently, mobility, resulting in a

greater risk of falls. Adding resistance training to the diabetes

treatment regimen leads to improved thigh lean tissue which, in turn,

may be an important way for patients to increase resting metabolic

rate, protein reserve, exercise tolerance, and functional mobility,

she notes.

This study is part of PTJ's special issue on diabetes, which

illustrates that physical therapy interventions can have a dramatic

and positive effect in fighting the complications associated with

diabetes. As the movement experts, physical therapists are ideally

suited to help this population safely and to effectively address

their movement dysfunctions.

====================

Carruthers

Wakefield, UK