Physical Activity

An updated position statement on the dangers of hyponatremia (also known as water intoxication) was just released (1). It once again highlights how drinking too much water or any fluids during physical activity in the hopes of preventing dehydration can be potentially fatal...

Short periods of intense physical activity can improve heart structure and diabetes control...

David Levy, MD, FRCP Diuretics Thiazide diuretics have been the mainstay of antihypertensive treatment since the first potent thiazide was introduced in 1957, and have often been the agents against which other drug classes have been compared in important clinical trials [18]. They are especially useful in low-renin (salt-sensitive) states, for example older people, and black or obese patients. Resistant hypertension (see below), common in these groups, is frequently due to inadequate diuretic therapy. Despite half a century of use, disagreement continues about their optimum dosing and whether blood pressure lowering effects and cardiovascular benefits are common to all agents in the class. There is continuing controversy about their potential metabolic disadvantages – concern about these, together with their low pharmaceutical profile, prevents their being used in many patients – but there is no evidence that these in any way blunt their cardiovascular benefits, even in people with diabetes (Box 11.7). They are as effective in reducing coronary events as any other class of antihypertensive agents, but in ALLHAT were more effective in reducing heart failure and stroke than lisinopril or amlodipine...

Rise in cerebral blood flow studied as cause of fatigue during physical activity… The development of fatigue is still a complication among type 2 diabetics. During exercise, a person with diabetes will experience a loss of muscle generating capacity. Currently, the mechanism of action of reduced exercise tolerance is still …

by Dr. Sheri Colberg, Ph.D., FACSM Having ineffective insulin action, or an insulin resistant state, is associated with numerous health risks, such as hyperinsulinemia, or high levels of insulin in the blood, that may damage blood vessels and contribute to arterial plaque formation and heart disease. A decrease in your …

New analysis suggests either aerobics or strength training can improve blood sugar levels, lower body fat and waist size, more… In a randomized trial, researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas compared different strategies of exercise for people with type 2 diabetes. They found that people …

Exercise inversely correlated with HbA1c, diabetic ketoacidosis, BMI, and dyslipidemia in type 1 patients…. Barbara Bohn and colleagues from the University of Ulm in Germany looked at a cohort study with 18,028 adults with type 1 diabetes. Participants were classified according to their physical activity. The results of the study …

Those women who continued to exercise throughout their pregnancy achieved an even higher risk reduction… Gestational diabetes and excessive maternal weight gain are associated with many negative outcomes for both the mother and the baby including: pre-eclampsia, hypertension and preterm birth. Expectant mothers who are diagnosed with gestational diabetes are …

Thirty minutes of exercise 6 days a week associated with about 40% mortality risk reduction in a study of older men… Norwegian researchers studied the relationships between physical activity (PA), smoking and 12-year cardiovascular (CV), non-CV and all-cause mortality in elderly Oslo men screened for CV disease in 1972–1973 and 2000. …

Dr. Joe Houmard briefly talks about the benefits of different types of aerobic exercise noting that part of a patient’s choice should be personal preference, and some might be due to factors such as the stress on joints that running can bring. Healso  notes that although cycling is great exercise, …