Jogging May Cause More Diabetes-Related Hypoglycemia Risk than Team Sports

Moderate-intensity exercise such as light continuous jogging or cycling poses a greater risk of hypoglycemia than intermittent high-intensity exercise representative of the activity patterns of team and field sports such as soccer or hockey. Dr. Guelfi and colleagues from the University of Western Australia analyzed the response of blood glucose and glucoregulatory hormones on two separate occasions during which seven healthy young type 1 diabetics performed either a 30-minute moderate-intensity (MOD) or intermittent high-intensity exercise (IHE) protocol.

MOD consisted of continuous exercise at 40% peak oxygen consumption (VO2) while IHE entailed a combination of continuous exercise at 40% peak VO2 interspersed with sprints performed every 2 minutes to simulate the activity patterns of team sports.

They found that both MOD and IHE exercise protocols led to a decline in blood glucose levels, but the decline was greater with MOD than with IHE – 4.4 vs – 2.9 mmol/L; p < 0.05) — despite a higher heart rate and greater total work load with IHE.
Blood glucose levels remained stable during recovery from IHE whereas they continued to decline after MOD.

The attenuated fall in blood glucose with IHE is most likely due to the observed increase in catecholamine and growth hormone levels stimulated by the intense exercise.

This study will contribute to improved guidelines for individuals with type 1 diabetes to manage their glucose levels during and after exercise to avoid hypoglycemia.
Diabetes Care 2005;28:1289-1294.

=============================

Advertisement

==============================

Professional CE- Pharmacists. Need Live CE?? Get 1.5 hours live interactive on the net. July 12, 2005 1pm No Charge send an email to rich@pharmacychoice.com to sign up