Exercise reduces risk of type 2 diabetes

The exercise It benefits people with type 2 diabetes, even if they do not make any changes in their lifestyle or diet, according to a recent study by Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands.

Dutch researchers conducted MRI scans of 12 patients with the diabetes before and after they did exercise of moderate intensity for six months.

Each week, the participants, who had an average age of 46 years, exercised between three and a half and six hours a week during two sessions of Strength and resistance training .

According to the study, published in the journal Radiology , the six-month exercise program concluded with a 12-day trekking expedition.

As part of the results, there was no change in participants' heart function at the end of the exercise program, but significant decreases were observed in the amount of fat in the abdomen, liver and around the heart, all of which have shown to be associated with an increased risk of heart disease.

"In the present study we observed that the second layer of fat around the heart - pericardial fat - behaved similarly in response to physical training such as intra-abdominal or visceral fat.

The fat content in the liver was also significantly reduced after exercise, "study lead author Dr. Hildo Cordero said in a news release from the journal. Medical Center of the University of Leiden in the Netherlands.

In addition, he explained that these fat reductions related to exercise in the liver are especially important for people with type 2 diabetes, many of whom have overweight or are obese .

"The liver plays a central role in regulating the total distribution of body fat," Cordero said. "Therefore, the reduction of the fat content in the liver and the volume of visceral fat by physical exercise are very important to reverse the adverse effects of lipid accumulation in other places, such as the heart and the vessel wall arterial.


Video Medicine: Preventing Pre-Diabetes (March 2024).