| Weight training improves diabetic nerve function
By Megan Rauscher
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Resistance training improves nerve
function in elderly diabetic patients with a common condition called
peripheral neuropathy, according to findings presented today at
the annual meeting of the American Diabetes Association. It also
has a favorable impact on risk factors for heart disease.
Peripheral neuropathy typically affects the feet and hands and
can cause a variety of problems including numbness, tingling sensations,
pain, and weakness.
"We noticed that many of our elderly diabetic patients were
not tolerating traditional medicines used for neuropathy pain or
they just weren't working," lead researcher Dr. Regina T. Kurian,
from the University of Louisville in Kentucky, told Reuters Health.
"Our results show that resistance training is safe for elderly
patients with neuropathy and it can improve their symptoms and increase
muscle strength and maybe help prevent some falls," she said.
In the study, 11 elderly diabetic patients with peripheral neuropathy
engaged in roughly 30 minutes of supervised resistance training
of the lower extremities three times per week for 12 weeks. "This
was a pilot study to see if this was doable and to see if we could
get some good data --and we did," Kurian said.
Resistance training was associated with improved muscle strength
in the calf and hamstring, a reduction in waist circumference, a
drop in blood pressure, and an increase in "good" HDL
cholesterol.
Resistance training also led to improvements in scores on two standard
neuropathy tests.
Based on these results, the investigators suggest considering resistance
training in the management of diabetics with peripheral neuropathy.
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