Weightlifting cuts diabetes risk in women
18 Jan BBC
Women who pump iron in the gym cut their risk of developing diabetes,
say researchers.The findings come from a study that tracked the health
of nearly 100,000 US nurses over a period of eight years.
Lifting weights, doing press-ups or similar resistance exercises to
give the muscles a workout was linked with a lower risk of diabetes, the
work in PLoS Medicine shows.Adults are already advised to do such
exercise at least twice a week.
The benefit seen in the study was on top of any gained from doing
aerobic workouts that exercise the heart and lungs - something which
adults are meant to do for at least 150 minutes a week.Women who engaged
in at least 150 minutes a week of aerobic activity and at least an hour
a week of muscle-strengthening activities had the most substantial risk
reduction compared with inactive women. They cut their odds of
developing type 2 diabetes by a third.
Experts already know that regular aerobic exercise, such as jogging,
brisk walking or swimming, can help stave off type 2 diabetes.The latest
work suggests adding resistance training to exercise regimes something
already recommended by the NHS will give further protection.
The Harvard Medical School researchers point out that their work is
not perfect it looked at only nurses who were mostly Caucasian and
relied on the study participants reporting how much exercise they did
rather than directly measuring it.
But they say their findings chime with similar results they already
have for men.They believe the explanation may be partly down to
maintaining a greater muscle mass to act as a buffer against
diabetes.Type 2 diabetes develops when the insulin-producing cells in
the body are unable to produce enough insulin, or when the insulin that
is produced does not work properly.
Insulin enables the body to use sugar as energy and store any excess
in the liver and muscle.Our genes and lifestyles influence our chances
of developing type 2 diabetes. Carrying excess weight increases a
person's risk.If you are overweight, every kilogram you lose could
reduce your risk by up to 15%, according to Diabetes UK.
Dr Richard Elliott, spokesman for the charity, said: “Despite
limitations to which this research can be applied to women in general,
it underlines the message that leading an active, healthy lifestyle can
help to reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes.
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