Recent research shows that staying active could protect against type 2 diabetes. This is true even for people who are likely to get this disease because of their genes.
The University of Sydney conducted this study, and the results are published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
The researchers say that promoting physical activity could be a key way to prevent type 2 diabetes.
The Study: Tracking Activity and Health
The study included 59,325 adults from the UK Biobank. At the start, they all wore wrist trackers that measured their activity. The researchers then watched their health for up to seven years.
The UK Biobank is a large resource with medical, lifestyle, and genetic information from half a million people in the UK.
The study looked at genetic markers linked with a higher chance of getting type 2 diabetes. People with many of these markers had a risk of getting diabetes that was 2.4 times higher than those with fewer markers.
Findings: More Activity, Less Risk
The study found that people who did more than an hour of medium- to hard-intensity physical activity each day had a 74% lower chance of getting type 2 diabetes.
This was true even when they took other things into account, like genetic risk. They compared this group with people who did less than five minutes of activity.
The researchers also found that people with a high genetic risk but who did a lot of physical activity had a lower risk of getting diabetes than people with a low genetic risk but who were not active.
Expert Comments and Examples of Activities
Associate Professor Melody Ding, a senior author of the study, says that we can’t control our genes or family history.
But she thinks the study shows that being active can lower the risk of getting type 2 diabetes, even for those at high risk.
Professor Ding explains that medium-intensity activities are things that make you sweat a bit and get slightly out of breath. These could be fast walking or general gardening.
Vigorous activities are things like running, aerobic dancing, fast or uphill cycling, and heavy gardening. These would make you out of breath or cause you to breathe heavily.
The Impact on Public Health
Diabetes is a major health problem worldwide. In 2021, 537 million adults globally were living with diabetes. In Australia alone, nearly 1.2 million people had type 2 diabetes in 2020.
The team hopes that this study will help guide public health and medical advice. They believe it can help professionals and the public prevent chronic diseases like diabetes.
If you care about diabetes, please read studies about best way to achieve type 2 diabetes remission, and a new cure for type 2 diabetes.
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The study was published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
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