Exercise can help adolescents with Type I diabetes improve their left ventricular function, reports Physicians Briefing.
Silmara Gusso, PhD, from the University of Auckland in New Zealand, and colleagues examined the impact of 20 weeks of exercise training in aerobic capacity on left ventricular function and glycemic control in adolescents. Fifty-three adolescents with type 1 diabetes were divided into exercise training and non-training groups (38 and 15 participants, respectively), while 22 healthy adolescents without diabetes participated in the exercise training intervention.
The researchers found that in both training groups, exercise training improved aerobic capacity (10%) and stroke volume (6%), but the increase was lower in the group with type 1 diabetes versus controls. In adolescents with type 1 diabetes, increased stroke volume resulted from greater left ventricular contractility (9% increase in ejection fraction and 11% decrease in end-systolic volumes) and, to a lesser extent, improved left ventricular filling (6%). There was about a 10% decrease in insulin use, but there was no change in glycemic status.
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