Diabetic Hearts Benefit from Daily Walk

If you are diabetic, then a daily walk can do wonders for your heart; it might actually cut down you risk of heart disease. These are the findings of a new study conducted by researchers at Saitama Medical University in Japan.

Type 2 diabetes, an increasingly common condition in most countries, is a condition in which the body loses its ability to properly respond to the blood sugar-regulating hormone insulin. Over the long term, the condition can lead to further complications which include heart disease and stroke. If blood sugar levels remain uncontrolled then over time, it can damage blood vessels and the heart.

To understand the benefits diabetics may gain from walking, Dr. Sato Shinji and colleagues followed 102 adults with type 2 diabetes. Ranging in age from 35 to 75, the participants were instructed by the researchers to walk for 20-30 minutes daily.

Only 64 out of the 102 participants managed to achieve this over the study period of 17 months. Among these 64, the researchers found that only 1 of the participants, i.e. 2% patients suffered a stroke while none of them developed heart disease. On the other hand, of the 38 participants who did not follow the walking regimen advised, 7 or 18% of the participants developed heart disease and also had a stroke.

The overall result was that those who stuck to their daily walking regimen had a lower risk of developing heart disease or suffering a stroke compared to those who stopped exercising. According to the researchers, even simple at-home exercise can help reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease linked to type 2 diabetes.

“The markedly lower risk of cardiovascular disease among program completers than dropouts in the current study provides evidence that patients with diabetes may benefit from a regular exercise program,” the researchers reported in the International Journal of Sports Medicine. In their opinion, better blood sugar control might be the reason behind regular exercisers in the study having a lower risk of cardiovascular disease.

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