Weight Loss No Help for Diabetics
Read Time:1 Minute, 20 Second
I had long been under the impression that significant weight loss due to exercise, and calorie reduction, would be of great cardiovascular benefit to those with Type 2 diabetes. So imagine my surprise when I read this today:
(Newser) – Many people with type 2 diabetes are overweight, and most diabetics die from heart disease. So it would follow that if diabetics followed a healthier diet and lost weight, they’d reduce their risk of a heart attack or stroke, right? Turns out, no. A massive long-range study has concluded that the lifestyle change makes no difference in terms of heart disease for people with type 2, reports MedPageToday. In fact, researchers stopped the study of 5,145 people two years early—it started in 2001—because the results were so clear.
“I was surprised,” the study chairwoman tells the New York Times. But “you do a study because you don’t know the answer.” Researchers emphasize that it still makes sense for diabetics to shed weight for a host of other health reasons, which means that doctors’ advice probably won’t change much, notes the Washington Post. It’s just that diabetics’ risk of heart disease won’t change much, either, maybe because any medication they’re taking trumps the effects of diet and exercise. “I think the patients in the intensive weight-loss group are very disappointed,” adds the researcher. “They’d worked hard to make these changes.”
Follow MadMike’sAmerica on Facebook and Twitter, and don’t forget to visit our HOME PAGE.
If you liked our story please share it at REDDIT.COM and PINTEREST as well as TUMBLR.
Happy
0 %
Sad
0 %
Excited
0 %
Sleepy
0 %
Angry
0 %
Surprise
0 %
0
0
Excellent points. A good example is the runner, Jim Fixx. No one could say he had a poor diet, weight problem, or lack of exercise. Yet, he dies at an early age from a heart attack.
What few people seem to know is his genetics were horrible. His father and brother died at earlier ages than he did, both of heart problems. It can be seen that his lifestyle likely added years to his life as well as improving the quality of those years. Even so, his genetic background had its way with him.
There are many factors to consider concerning heart disease besides whether or not you have type 2 diabetes. One of those is your initial weight when diagnosed and otherwise general health as well as genetics. It has run in my family for years while obesity has not. Nor has heart disease. That doesn’t mean I won’t drop dead tomorrow but my mother is 88, my aunt was 87, and my uncle was 86. They all had type 2 but none were over weight and did not die of heart disease. I am classified as pre diabetic and have been for years. I changed my diet somewhat get a moderate amount of exercise and have lower my sugar count sever points below the danger zone. My doctor tells me that genetics plays a greater role in heart disease, for those who eat moderate diets, that any other factor.
I now do considerably more than that, see my Sept Workout picture on my page, http://www.minus.com/slrman
I admit, I didn’t start out doing anywhere near that much. But I have been a long-time practitioner of martial arts. After having an ischemic stroke in 1992, I had a major set back in my physical training. It has taken over 20 years, but I am in better condition today than I was in my early 40s when I taught a dozen martial arts classes a week. I am much more careful about my diet, too. I don’t believe one should give up everything pleasurable in life. As you say, moderation is the key. I still enjoy a steak sometimes, but I do not make it the centerpiece of my meal.
This is dangerous talk. Even though it is tempered a little by mentioning the other health benefits of weight control and exersise, people tend to read what they want to believe. I wonder how man will skim this and use it as justification for not bothering to exercise or control their calorie intake?
Diabetes is serious enough and does exacerbate the risk of heart disease and strokes without telling people that exercise and proper diet won;t help those things. When, in fact, they will. They just will not ameliorate the additional factors of type 2 diabetes.
James, I had the same thought. All things in moderation, even exercise, but in the long run, getting 20-30 minutes a day of any type of cardio (I run up and down stairs) is important.