Home
You can view the current or previous issues of Diabetes Health online, in their entirety, anytime you want.
Click Here To View
See if you qualify for our free healthcare professional magazines. Click here to start your application for Pre-Diabetes Health, Diabetes Health Pharmacist and Diabetes Health Professional.
Latest Type 2 Issues Articles
Popular Type 2 Issues Articles
Highly Recommended Type 2 Issues Articles
Email to a Friend
Send a link to this page to your friends and colleagues.
Physical Fitness Reduces Mortality Risk in Type 2 Men With Ventricular Hypertrophy
Physical Fitness Reduces Mortality Risk in Type 2 Men With Ventricular Hypertrophy
Physically fit men with type 2 diabetes and a heart condition known as left ventricular hypertrophy run a considerably lower risk of premature death than their diabetic peers who are not fit. That's the conclusion of a longitudinal study of 866 patients conducted by Veterans Affairs Medical Center and George Washington University, Washington, DC.
The study was designed to see if the beneficial effects of physical fitness on type 2 mortality seen in other studies would apply to type 2 men with left ventricular hypertrophy. The condition involves the enlargement of the muscle tissue forming the walls of the heart's main pumping chamber, the left ventricle. Enlargement, a result of being forced to work harder, often comes from high blood pressure, which is common in people with type 2 diabetes.
Researchers compared the mortality risks among four groups within the 866-patient study:
1. Type 2 men below the 50th percentile in physical fitness who did not have left ventricular hypertrophy
2. Type 2 men below the 50th percentile in physical fitness who did have left ventricular hypertrophy
3. Type 2 men above the 50th percentile in physical fitness who did not have left ventricular hypertrophy
4. Type 2 men above the 50th percentile in physical fitness who did have left ventricular hypertrophy
All of the patients had undergone exercise stress tests and echocardiographic evaluations between 1986 and 2011. They were measured in terms of "metabolic equivalence tasks," or METs, a scale of how much oxygen a person needs to complete physical tasks that start at resting and escalate to more strenuous levels. Patients who reached six or more METs were considered fit and above the 50th percentile.
The study showed a statistically negligible difference in the increased risk of death posed to non-physically fit type 2s regardless of whether they had left ventricular hypertrophy. In physically fit men, however, those without the condition ran a 41 percent lower risk of death than members of the non-fit group. Fit men with the condition ran a 43 percent lower risk. The researchers found that each one-MET increase in level of fitness corresponded to a 17 percent decrease in mortality risk.
The study controlled for the potential influences of age, body mass index, hypertension, smoking, and medications. Smoking significantly increased mortality risk by 54%, a multivariate Cox proportional hazards analysis showed.
Lead researcher Dr. Khaled Alswat, an endocrinologist, suggested that physical exercise tests should become routine for type 2 patients, especially those who run the risk of heart problems.
Categories: BMI/ Body Mass Index, Diabetes, Diabetes Health, Diabetic, Exercise, Type 2 Issues
You May Also Be Interested In...
-
Diabetes Health
Diabetes Health is the essential resource for people living with diabetes- both newly diagnosed and experienced as well as the professionals who care for them. We provide balanced expert news and information on living healthfully with diabetes. Each issue includes cutting-edge editorial coverage of new products, research, treatment options, and meaningful lifestyle issues.
-
Topics
- Diabetic / Diabetes Health
- Type 1 / 1.5 Diabetes
- Type 2 Diabetes
- Blood Glucose / Sugar
- High/Low Blood Sugar / Fast Acting Glucose
- Insulin- Pumps, Pens & Syringes
- Continuous Glucose Monitors, CGM, Infusion Sets
- Type 2 Medications
- Hyperglycemia
- Hypoglycemia
Comments
Add your comments about this article below. You can add comments as a registered user or anonymously. If you choose to post anonymously your comments will be sent to our moderator for approval before they appear on this page. If you choose to post as a registered user your comments will appear instantly.
When voicing your views via the comment feature, please respect the Diabetes Health community by refraining from comments that could be considered offensive to other people. Diabetes Health reserves the right to remove comments when necessary to maintain the cordial voice of the diabetes community.
For your privacy and protection, we ask that you do not include personal details such as address or telephone number in any comments posted.
Don't have your Diabetes Health Username? Register now and add your comments to all our content.
Register...
Register your Diabetes Health Username here.
Have Your Say...