Exercise Rehabilitation for Diabetes and Obesity

Overview

Diabetes is a group of metabolic diseases characterised by high blood glucose levels as a result of defective insulin production or insulin resistance.

Diabetes has become a global epidemic. The number of diabetics has increased more than two-fold in the past three decades to an estimated 285 million people worldwide, with a projected rise to 439 million by 2030. (1)

While body mass index (or BMI) is frequently used to as the criteria for obesity, more precise measures of body composition can be provided by Medifit using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (or DXA).

Not only does DXA provide information about the amount of lean tissue and fat tissue you have, but it can also accurately measure visceral adipose tissue (VAT) which is the fat which sits around the internal organs and is strongly associated with the development of cardiovascular disease.

Benefits

Benefits of Exercise for Obesity

• Significant health benefits and improvements in disease risk factors have been observed after weight loss of 5-10% of total body weight. (4, 7)
• This weight loss can be achieved through lifestyle interventions that aim to combine reductions in energy intake, with increases in energy expenditure through exercise. (8)

Benefits of Exercise for Diabetes

• There is encouraging evidence that exercise plays a pivotal role in the prevention and management of Type 2 Diabetes (T2DM). (2)
  • In a ground-breaking study that followed individuals at risk for T2DM for 3 years, it was shown that the lowest incidence of T2DM was seen in the group that modified their lifestyle, compared to the control group or the group on Metformin therapy.
• In the acute phase, regular exercise training can result in improvements in systemic insulin action lasting from 2-72 hours.
• In those with T2DM, undertaking moderate to vigorous intensity exercise 2-3 days/week can increase glucose uptake. (3)