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Heavy exercise does not affect diabetes test
By Alison McCook
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Many type 1 diabetics
can engage in heavy exercise without fear that the activity will
influence the result of a test of kidney function, new research
reports.
When monitoring people with diabetes, doctors periodically check
their urine for the presence of a protein called albumin, a sign
their kidneys are not functioning properly, lead author Dr. James
T. Lane told Reuters Health.
However, previous research has suggested that exercise can temporarily
increase the amount of protein people with healthy kidneys excrete
into their urine, perhaps leading to a false diagnosis of kidney
disease.
Now, a new study in journal Diabetes Care suggests that although
exercise may induce a spike in the overall amount of urinary protein,
levels of albumin will stay relatively stable in many people with
type 1 diabetes.
Lane, of the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, and
his associates found that people with type 1 diabetes with normal
blood pressure and no traces of albumin in their urine under normal
conditions did not excrete abnormal amounts of albumin after heavy
exercise.
These findings demonstrate that doctors can test diabetics for
kidney disease "without worry that any previous exercise will
confound the results," Lane told Reuters Health.
He cautioned that these findings apply strictly to people with
type 1 diabetes, and not to those with the more common, type 2 form
of diabetes, which is linked to obesity and occurs more often in
adults.
The study involved 18 adults with type 1 diabetes who were asked
to engage in 30 minutes of moderate and intense exercise. Blood
pressure and albumin levels in the urine were monitored in the subjects.
Lane explained that his team defined the intensity of exercise
according to how patients' heart rates responded to the activity.
In general, moderate exercise consisted of 30 minutes of jogging
at a controlled pace, while intense exercise included 30 minutes
of faster jogging or sprinting.
Although participants excreted more albumin in their urine during
the first four hours after exercise, that increase fell within a
normal range, and was not high enough to diagnose them with kidney
disease.
These findings suggest that doctors should not discourage exercise
in type 1 diabetics before a urine test for kidney disease, a habit
that helps keep them healthy in the long run, Lane said.
For instance, exercise reduces type 1 diabetics' need for insulin,
keeps their heart healthy and reduces the risk of high blood pressure,
Lane noted.
SOURCE: Diabetes Care, January 2004.
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