Fast-Slow Walking May Be Better for Diabetes

By Peter Russell
WebMD Health News
Reviewed by Keith Barnard, MD
Aug. 5, 2014 -- Periods of power walking mixed with strolling at a more leisurely pace may be a more effective way for people with diabetes to control their blood sugar levels, rather than walking at a constant speed, according to a small study.
Exercise helps people with type 2 diabetes control their blood sugar levels. Although high-intensity exercise offers the prospect of better control, doctors often warn against that approach, due to the risk of injury and the likelihood someone will not stay with it.
Researchers at the University of Copenhagen previously highlighted the value of interval-walking training, where the intensity of the training alternates. Their latest study analyzes how this technique helps patients.
Training Program
People with type 2 diabetes were randomly put in 3 groups. Twelve were put into a program of interval-walking training (IWT), another 12 were assigned to a group using a constant walking approach (CWT), and the rest formed a baseline group.
Training consisted of five 1-hour sessions each week for 4 months. The researchers gave the groups precise instructions about their exercise regime, although the training was unsupervised.
A device was used to measure blood sugar levels and insulin production in each of the volunteers at the start and end of the study period.
The Results
The researchers found improved blood sugar control only among those who had mixed power walking with slower walking. This was probably caused by an increase in insulin sensitivity (or, in general, how well your body uses insulin), they write.
"Whether these beneficial effects of IWT continue and result in better health outcomes in the long term must be determined in order to justify the clinical

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More information May help to fight against Diabetes

Mental health coaching may help diabetes patients with depression and with lowering their blood sugar levels, a new study suggests.
Many people with diabetes suffer depression, which can interfere with their ability to manage their diabetes through monitoring blood sugar levels, being active, eating healthy and taking their medications, the researchers noted.
This study included diabetes patients in a rural, low-income area of central North Carolina. Nearly 16 percent of people in this area have diabetes, compared with 10 percent of people nationally. Thirty percent of these diabetes patients have depression and 65 percent are poor, the study authors wrote.
Researchers referred 182 patients with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes and depression to a diabetes educator and also to a mental health coach, who helped them find ways to deal with the stresses and challenges in their lives. They had an average of three visits with the mental health coach.
After three months, the patients' anxiety and depression scores fell by an average of 49 percent, and their A1C levels (a test that determines average blood sugar levels over several months) dropped from an average of 8.8 percent to 7.7 percent. Diabetes patients typically try to get their A1C levels below 7 percent.
The study was presented Wednesday at the annual meeting of the American Association of Diabetes Educators, in Orlando, Fla. Research presented at meetings is considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed medical journal.
"The program was to be piloted for a two-year period but has been so powerful

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