Exercise improves quality of life in type 2 diabetes

(HealthDay)—For people with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), a nine-month aerobic and resistance training program significantly improves quality of life (QOL) compared with no exercise, according to research published online Feb. 12 in Diabetes Care.

Valerie H. Myers, M.D., of the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, La., and colleagues evaluated the quality of life benefits of a nine-month exercise training regimen consisting of aerobic or resistance training or a combination, compared with a non-exercise control group for 262 adults with T2DM.

The researchers found that, compared with no exercise, all three exercise training conditions (aerobic, resistance, or a combination) yielded significant improvement in the physical and general health subscales of the quality of life measure. Resistance training yielded the most improvement in bodily pain, while physical functioning improved the most with aerobic and combined conditioning exercise.

"In conclusion, the current study provides evidence that adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus are likely to benefit from adopting an exercise training regimen regardless of exercise training modality (aerobic, resistance, or a combination of both)," the authors write. "Given the overall beneficial effects of combined training on many aspects of QOL and the previously reported benefits of combined training on glycemic control, a combined aerobic and resistance approach is particularly worthy of further study."