Exercise reduces the risk of premature death in type 1 diabetes, study reports

[DCUK NewsBot]

People with type 1 diabetes who are more active have a lower risk of premature death compared to those who do not exercise regularly, researchers have said. Inactive participants were 37 per cent more likely to die prematurely than those who were more active, but the study authors could not identify why exercise helped to boost life expectancy. One theory is that being active helps control body weight and therefore reduces the risk of developing other health complications, such as kidney and heart disease. The study was carried out in Helsinki and looked at the exercise patterns of 2,639 people with type 1 diabetes, 310 of whom had diabetic kidney disease (DKD). The researchers focused on the frequency, intensity and duration of the person’s physical activity levels and then followed them up 11 years later. A total of 270 people died during the course of the research. In the least active group, the death rate was 14.4 per cent, compared with only 4.8 per cent in the group who performed more exercise. Physical activity appeared to benefit patients both with and without kidney disease. There has been a lot of research showing a strong link between exercise and type 2 diabetes, but not much evidence supporting how being active could also benefit those with type 1 diabetes, which is why the study team carried this work out. Lead study author Dr Heidi Tikkanen-Dolenc of the University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital, said: "Doctors have always prescribed physical activity for their patients with type 1 diabetes without strong evidence. Now we can say that in patients with type 1 diabetes, physical activity not only reduces the risk of diabetic nephropathy and cardiovascular disease events but also premature mortality." In the UK people are encouraged to exercise regularly to maintain good overall health. The NHS recommends participating in at least 150 minutes of moderate to intense exercise a week. The findings appear online in the journal Diabetes Care.

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[donnellysdogs]

Doesnt exercise reduce the risk of death in all the population??

Why is this having research paid for whenthat money could be better spent eksewhere??

The majority of the whole population would be better off by more exercise! Really see this as a waste ifresearch money..

 

[ringi]

I have not read the paper, but my first thought is:

Is a high level of exercise due to people feeling better (and hence being healthy), or is the health due to the exercise...... Also are poeple not being active, as they don't know how to adjust their insulin to allow it?​

PS.

I expect this research did not cost that much, as they collected data about everything they could with these people, then processed the data to see what attributes predicted outcomes.

 

[Robinredbreast]

Doesnt exercise reduce the risk of death in all the population??

Why is this having research paid for whenthat money could be better spent eksewhere??

The majority of the whole population would be better off by more exercise! Really see this as a waste ifresearch money..

Couldn't agree more dd

 

[slaxx]

As a friend said, the diff between science and monkeying around is that with science you write everything down on paper
Seriously tho, i agree that exercise work for everyone. My thinking for this though is:
1) was any other condition in the mentioned test group considered? (The DKD was mentioned but wasnt related to the death numbers later on? Dunno if it's in the whole paper/article)
2) diabetic maintence considered?
3) "... and followed them up after 11yrs" were these 11yrs blank data?

 

[ringi]

Often many papers are published based on the same dataset, so to find out, you will to find the owner of the dataset and ask for a list of all papers that used it.

 

[Bic]

I have not read the paper, but my first thought is:

Is a high level of exercise due to people feeling better (and hence being healthy), or is the health due to the exercise...... Also are poeple not being active, as they don't know how to adjust their insulin to allow it?​

PS.

I expect this research did not cost that much, as they collected data about everything they could with these people, then processed the data to see what attributes predicted outcomes.

Your first thought was exactly like mine: I guess that peolpe who exercise more will also be those who have less difficulty in avoiding hypos and hypers, besides perhaps receiving more support in managing the balance between exercise and therapy and daily/monthly/yearly fluctuations.

 

[ringi]

Remember that people die when someone phones 999, therefore to live a long time, don't allow anyone to phone 999.........