Exercise Reduces Heart Disease
Risk Among Diabetics

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Physical activity reduces the risk of heart disease and stroke in diabetic women, according to Harvard researchers.

It can be as simple as regular walking, running or swimming, investigators report in the Annals of Internal Medicine for January 16th, but exercise helps prevent cardiovascular disease for those with type 2 diabetes, often called adult-onset diabetes.

Currently, cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death for those with diabetes, a disease that affects at least 16 million Americans. The heart disease risk is 2 to 4 times higher in diabetics than in the general population, and for women the risk is 3 to 5 times higher, according to lead researcher, Dr. Frank Hu, of the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, Massachusetts.

``It's well known that exercise reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease in the general population, but it has been unclear if it's beneficial to people with type 2 diabetes because there can be complications,'' Hu told Reuters Health. ''The picture for diabetics is more complicated than among the general population.''

In the study, which tracked 5,125 female nurses with type 2 diabetes from 1980 to 1994, Hu and colleagues found that women who exercised ``substantially reduced (their) risk for cardiovascular complications.'' Those who exercised moderately to vigorously for at least 4 hours each week lowered their risk of heart attack and stroke almost 40% more than those who were inactive.

``We found that if a diabetic woman exercised moderately for 1 hour or more per day, her risk for cardiovascular disease was reduced by 45%,'' Hu told Reuters Health. ``That's pretty dramatic for type 2 diabetes because they're already at a high risk (for heart problems).''

Even brisk walking proved as good as the more vigorous exercises like running and jogging, Hu pointed out, as the faster pace translated into lower risk than slower walking.

``The bottom line is that (diabetic women) don't need to worry about the potential problems with exercising if they're careful,'' Hu noted. ``The benefits for reducing heart disease can outweigh the potential dangers associated in the past.''

SOURCE: Annals of Internal Medicine 2001;134:96-106.
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