BALTIMORE, Oct. 1 (UPI) -- Exercise may prevent heart and blood vessel damage caused by diabetes and high blood pressure, researchers said in a report released Tuesday.
Exercise already is recommended to help control blood sugar in diabetics and blood pressure in those with hypertension, but researchers said it actually may help protect the heart from damage that can lead to heart disease and death in people with those conditions.
"Exercise benefits go beyond just controlling blood sugar and lowering blood pressure, you get improvements in the cardiovascular system," study author Kerry Stewart, director of clinical exercise physiology at Johns Hopkins University, told United Press International.
People with both type 2 or adult onset diabetes and high blood pressure have a very high risk for developing and dying from heart disease and stroke. Stewart reviewed more than 200 studies and found exercise improves heart and blood vessel function and may help these patients avoid these fatal conditions.
Exercise helps blood vessels expand and contract, prevents stiffness of the arteries, improves heart function and reduces levels of inflammation throughout the body that can sometimes occur in people with diabetes and hypertension, Stewart said.
People with these conditions should be treated by their physician if they have underlying indications of heart disease, Stewart said, but they also should be exercising.
Nathaniel Clark, a physician and vice president of clinical affairs at the American Diabetes Association, agreed with the recommendation and noted that although exercise already is recommended for these patients, most physicians do not consider it to be a critical component of diabetes treatment.
Clark added it was unlikely the new finding of a heart-protective benefit might sway more physicians to emphasize the importance of exercise to their patients. He said it is difficult to get patients to make lifestyle changes "and given the limited amount of time to see a patient, it's easier to write a prescription than to the make the case of the importance of exercise."
Stewart noted patients should first get the OK from their doctor before engaging in an exercise program. Most guidelines call for 30 to 45 minutes of aerobic exercise, such as walking, cycling and swimming, he said.
Weightlifting also can be beneficial, he said, noting a recent study found a combination of aerobics and weightlifting provided the most benefit to these patients. Weightlifting decreases body fat and increases muscle, which appears to increase insulin sensitivity -- the primary problem in type 2 diabetes patients.
The study appears in Wednesday's issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
(Reported by Steve Mitchell, UPI Medical Correspondent, in Washington.)
