Weight Training Lowers Risk of Type 2 Diabetes in U.S. Men

Second study shows physical activity linked to lower mortality risk for those with diabetes

TUESDAY, Aug. 7 (HealthDay News) -- Weight training or aerobic exercise independently lowers the risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM); and for those with diabetes, physical activity (PA) correlates with a lower mortality risk, according to two studies published online Aug. 6 in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

Anders Grøntved, M.P.H., from the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, and colleagues examined the role of weight training in the prevention of T2DM in a cohort of 32,002 men from the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, observed from 1990 to 2008. The researchers found that, in multivariate-adjusted models, there was a dose-response association between increasing time spent on weight training or aerobic exercise and lower risk of T2DM, with the lowest risk for those engaged in at least 150 minutes per week. The risk of T2DM was independently 34 and 52 percent lower, respectively, for men who engaged in at least 150 minutes per week of weight training or aerobic exercise.

Diewertje Sluik, from the German Institute of Human Nutrition Potsdam-Rehbrücke in Nuthetal, and colleagues conducted a prospective cohort study involving 5,859 individuals with diabetes and a meta-analysis of published prospective studies to examine the association between PA and diabetes. In the prospective analysis, the researchers found that total PA correlated with lower risk of cardiovascular disease and total mortality, with the lowest risk seen in moderately active individuals (hazard ratio, 0.62 for total mortality and 0.51 for cardiovascular disease mortality). In the meta-analysis the pooled hazard ratio from five studies for all-cause mortality was 0.60 for high versus low PA.

"These findings provide empirical evidence supporting the widely shared view that persons with diabetes should engage in regular PA," Sluik and colleagues write.

Abstract - Grøntved
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Abstract - Sluik
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