Aerobic exercise can benefit people with type 1 diabetes who use insulin pumps, suggests a small study.
The three -month study found that the six people with type 1 diabetes who did aerobic had a better blood sugar control, used less insulin and suffered less high blood sugar events than the seven who did not exercise.
The study appears in the October 11 online edition of Cell Transplantation magazine.
Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease that makes the immune system attack beta cells that produce insulin in the pancreas.People with type 1 diabetes remain with little or no insulin, a hormone that is necessary for the body to use food carbohydrates.
As people with type 1 diabetes do not have enough insulin to meet body needs, they must take insulin several times a day.This can be done through multiple injections per day, or through a small tube inserted under the skin and linked to an insulin pump, according to the American Diabetes Association (American Diabetes Association, ADA).
In combination with insulin therapy, exercise can help people with type 1 diabetes manage the disease, and perhaps help them use less insulin, according to the study.But exercise can only be used to treat the disorder.Insulin is always necessary for people with type 1 diabetes, says the ADA.
"We find that being physically active can improve the control [of blood sugar] of patients with type 1 diabetes," he said in a press release from the study co -author, Dr. Livio Luzi.Luzi works at the Diabetes Research Institute of the Miller Medicine Faculty of the University of Miami.
"Our results suggest that an educational program aimed at patients [of type 1 diabetes] and focused on the monitoring of insulin injections, diet and exercise is highly advantageous for management [of type 1 diabetes]",Luzi added.
More studies with more patients should be carried out, according to researchers.
"The current study offers physiological data that show that exercise is an important factor to improve and manage type 1 diabetes," said Dr. Rodolfo Alejandro, who also works at the Research Institute on Diabetes, and that he is a editor inHead of a section of the magazine.
"With the growing diabetes rate, it is emphatically recommended that an exercise program as part of the treatment is included, and when used jointly with insulin therapy, it could offer better results to patients," Alejandro said.