Epidemiological evidence for the role of physical activity in reducing risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease

Abstract

Epidemiological studies suggest that physically active individuals have a 30-50% lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes than do sedentary persons and that physical activity confers a similar risk reduction for coronary heart disease. Risk reductions are observed with as little as 30 min of moderate-intensity activity per day. Protective mechanisms of physical activity include the regulation of body weight; the reduction of insulin resistance, hypertension, atherogenic dyslipidemia, and inflammation; and the enhancement of insulin sensitivity, glycemic control, and fibrinolytic and endothelial function. Public health initiatives promoting moderate increases in physical activity may offer the best balance between efficacy and feasibility to improve metabolic and cardiovascular health in largely sedentary populations.

Physical Activity and Abnormal Blood Glucose Among Healthy Weight Adults

“…However, a lack of physical activity has been shown to contribute to unhealthy blood glucose levels. 39,40 Additionally, though sitting time was controlled for, the HSE did not allow for assessment of duration of sitting episodes. Finally, this study is cross-sectional and therefore does not examine the study variables over time.…”

Low-intensity physical activity is associated with reduced risk of incident type 2 diabetes in older adults: evidence from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing

“…The protective effect of physical activity becomes apparent even with moderateintensity exercise such as walking [3], and most studies report dose-response associations between physical activity and diabetes risk. The exact shape of this dose-response association remains uncertain though [4], and the difference in the reduction in risk between the least active and the next least active groups is not always significant [2]. There is a need to study this association further in diverse populations so as to improve the effectiveness of physical activity interventions to reduce diabetes in younger as well as in older populations [5].…”

“…Because the minimum amount of physical activity needed to achieve a decrease in the risk of developing type 2 diabetes is not well established [2,4,5], we tested whether even small amounts of weekly low-intensity physical activity reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes in comparison with physical inactivity. Moreover, we explored whether age modifies the association between categories of physical activity and incident type 2 diabetes because there is evidence that this association is stronger in older rather than in younger populations [6].…”

Walking and inflammatory markers in individuals screened for type 2 diabetes

“…However, recent evidence has shown that levels of physical activity are also inversely and independently associated with TNFα , IL-6, and CRP (Panagiotakos et al 2005, Pischon et al 2003, Wannamethee et al 2002. As levels of physical activity have also consistently been shown to be inversely associated with the risk of developing both type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease (Bassuk & Manson 2005), markers of chronic low-grade inflammation could be a mediating link between levels of physical activity and chronic disease risk. However, the effect of walking, independent of more vigorous forms of exercise, on inflammatory markers is not well documented.…”