ALEXANDRIA, VA, October 31, 2008 — 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 of Utah'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). Paul 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.
Physical therapists are highly-educated, licensed healthcare
professionals who can help patients reduce pain and improve or restore
mobility — without expensive surgery or the side effects of
medications. APTA represents more than 70,000 physical therapists,
physical therapist assistants, and students of physical therapy
nationwide. Its purpose is to improve the health and quality of life of
individuals through the advancement of physical therapist practice.
Learn more about conditions physical therapists can treat at www.moveforwardpt.com, and find a physical therapist
in your area at www.findapt.us.
1American Diabetes Association