| Pumping iron improves insulin effects
in diabetics
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Strength training improves the effects
of insulin in the muscles of patients with type 2 diabetes, according
to a report from Denmark.
"Physical inactivity is becoming close to the number-one leading
cause of death in the US," Dr. Flemming Dela from the University
of Copenhagen told Reuters Health. "Our study is one which
shows how to fight this trend."
Earlier research demonstrated the value of aerobic endurance training
in increasing insulin action, the authors explain in the medical
journal Diabetes, but most patients with type 2 diabetes are overweight
and unlikely to take up endurance training.
Dela and colleagues, therefore, investigated the impact of strength
training three times weekly for 6 weeks on insulin action in 10
type 2 diabetics and 7 healthy subjects.
In addition to increasing muscle mass, strength training seemed
to enhance the effects of insulin, the researchers report.
"Strength training is a realistic and effective alternative
to endurance training and probably much more attractive to the 'average'
type 2 diabetic patient," Dela concluded.
"We have followed up on this study by exploring the molecular
mechanisms in the muscle that lies behind the effect," Dela
added. These results should be published in the near future.
SOURCE: Diabetes, February 2004.
Previous Diabetes
News 
|
