New study into health benefits of exercise for diabetics

Fri, 04 Mar 2011
New research into the health benefits of exercise for patients suffering from type 1 diabetes is set to be carried out in the South West of England and the West Midlands.

Researchers will examine the effects of regular exercise in adults that have been newly diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, a condition that affects more than a quarter of a million people in the UK. The 60 patients involved will be recruited over two years from the middle of next month, and will be monitored for one year.

The patients will be randomly placed in two groups, with the first group getting normal treatment while those in the other group are encouraged to carry out a simple and safe exercise programme that raises their level of moderate intensity exercise up to 150 minutes per week, that recommended by the Department of Health .

Although there have been numerous studies into the benefits of a healthy regimen for people with type 2 diabetes, this is the first study to apply the same approach to type 1. Rob Andrews, who is leading the research, commented "We already know that exercise is of benefit for people with type 2 diabetes. Our study aims to find out whether increased physical activity also helps people with type 1 diabetes."

The researchers will focus on whether exercising can help to preserve insulin secretion, crucial for managing blood glucose levels in people with type 1 diabetes and lowering the chances of any further complications from the condition.

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