Patients with type 2 diabetes should be prescribed physical activity to control blood sugar and improve heart health.
Patients with type 2 diabetes should be prescribed physical activity to control blood sugar and improve heart health. That is one of the recommendations in a position paper of the European Association of Preventive Cardiology (EAPC), a branch of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC). The paper is published today in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, a journal of the ESC.
“Sedentary lifestyles and unhealthy diets are the most important drivers of the increasing number of patients with type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular problems such as heart attacks,” said first author Dr Hareld Kemps, a cardiologist at Máxima Medical Centre, Veldhoven, the Netherlands. “Diabetes doubles the risk of mortality but the fitter patients become, the more that risk declines. Unfortunately, the majority of patients do not engage in exercise programmes.”
One in 11 adults worldwide have diabetes, of which 90% is type 2 diabetes. Nearly all patients with type 2 diabetes develop cardiovascular complications, which are the leading causes of death in this group.
The paper provides practical recommendations for doctors on how to motivate patients to incorporate physical activity into their daily routine, set achievable and measurable goals, and design individualised exercise training programmes to meet those goals.
Read more at European Society of Cardiology
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