Pumping iron could reduce one's risk of type 2 diabetes

Cooperation from a transatlantic group of scientists has produced results showing that individuals who are trying to avoid ever having to buy Actos to manage their type 2 diabetes could consider hitting the weight room.

The experiment indicates that the chances of men becoming afflicted with type 2 diabetes dropped by 34 percent if they lifted weights for a total of two-and-a-half hours a week, conducted in daily 30 minute sessions. Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health and the University of Southern Denmark drew these conclusions from data they compiled over the course of 18 years, based on the health and behaviors of 32,000 men.

The scientists state that cardiovascular exercise is still a stronger preventative measure than weight training. Men who engaged in aerobic exercise instead of resistance-training were 52 percent less likely to develop the insulin deficiency condition. Men who incorporated weights and aerobics into their workouts were 60 percent less prone to diabetes, the research says.

"Weight training was associated with a significantly lower risk of [type 2 diabetes], independent of aerobic exercise. Combined weight training and aerobic exercise conferred a greater benefit," reads the conclusion of the study published in the latest issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

"I cannot help but note that none of the time I spend trying to decide whether to increase the dose or add a new medication for my patients with type 2 diabetes is likely to result in a 38 percent reduction in mortality," wrote Dr. Mitchell Katz in an adjoining editorial.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that the excessive presence of blood sugar known as prediabetes is likely to progress into type 2 diabetes after a few years. However, the odds of prediabetes graduating into the substantially more serious type 2 diabetes are lessened if an individual eats a healthier diet and exercises.