Just walking 10 minutes is as ‘good as a drug’ at stopping diabetes

Walking ten minutes a day is 'just as good as any drug', according to new research

JUST 10 minutes of intense exercise could be the key to beating Type 2 diabetes, say researchers.

 

Patients who performed highintensity exercise three times daily, five days a week showed a bigger drop in blood sugar than those on low-level workouts, the scientists said yesterday.

Their three-month exercise regime also improved cholesterol levels and led to weight loss.

They said the findings showed short bursts were “as good as adding a drug” and were easier to fit in to busy schedules.

Britain is facing a Type 2 diabetes time bomb with the numbers diagnosed over the past 15 years almost doubling.

Bursts of exercise may become a viable alternative to the current standard of care of low-intensity, sustained exercise for diabetes rehabilitation

Avinash Pande

The three-month exercise regime also improved cholesterol levels and led to weight loss

 



Numbers diagnosed with diabetes over the past 15 years has almost doubled



More than one in 20 of the population lives with the condition, which is linked to obesity and it is estimated that there will be five million people affected by 2025.

Improved fitness has always been a key part of treating Type 2 diabetes but management programmes have, historically, focused on low-intensity, sustained exercise.

The high-intensity programme, devised by Avinash Pandey at the University of Western Ontario in Canada, looked at the effects of the short but regular workouts on 76 patients with an average age of 67.

Patients were randomly assigned either 30 minutes of exercise five days a week at 65 per cent of their target heart rate or 10-minute workouts three times a day, five days a week at 85 per cent of their target heart rate.

The short-burst group had an 0.82 per cent drop in blood sugar patterns compared with just 0.25 per cent among those on the low-intensity programme.

 

An estimated that there will be five million people affected by 2025

It also showed a three-fold reduction in body mass index, greater reductions in “bad” cholesterol and improved “good” cholesterol.

At the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions in Florida yesterday, Mr Pandey said: “More may be accomplished with short bursts of vigorous exercise in which patients achieve a higher maximum target heart rate and which may be easier to fit into busy schedules.

“Bursts of exercise may become a viable alternative to the current standard of care of low-intensity, sustained exercise for diabetes rehabilitation.”

Researcher Dr Paul Poirier said more work was needed but he added: “What we can say for sure is that it is safe and effective in the short term.”