Diabetes is a growing health issue that affects approximately 24 million adults and children in the United States.* If you have diabetes, a physical therapist can work with you to design a program that helps control your glucose and fight complications such as loss of movement. While aerobic exercise is often recommended for the treatment of type 2 diabetes, a recent study found that adding high-force strength training to an aerobic program offered significant advantages, helping to improve glucose control, increase strength, and reduce the risk of falls among study participants.
People with diabetes often have reduced muscle mass, and, as a result, mobility. Adding resistance training to a diabetes treatment program leads to improved thigh lean tissue which, in turn, may be an important way to increase resting metabolic rate, protein reserve, exercise tolerance, and functional mobility. As experts in motion, physical therapists are ideally suited to help people with diabetes safely and effectively address their loss of movement.
*American Diabetes Association