A study conducted by biologists from Unicamp showed that resistance training, such as bodybuilding and functional training, can increase the life expectancy of people living with diabetes. The research proved that activities involving physical strength can have benefits similar to those of aerobic training, such as running and swimming, practices that were previously recommended for diabetics.
The research was done evaluating the impact on the health of mice that had type 1 diabetes. Both they and healthy animals were exposed to strength training — climbing with small weights on their tails — to assess the impact of the activity on the health of the sick animals. Weight training prevented both dysfunction and death of the animals’ pancreatic cells.
The rats trained five days a week for almost three months, with progressive intensities. After ten weeks of resistance exercise, the rodents showed improved glucose tolerance and reduced blood glucose. The pancreas was able to naturally secrete more insulin and process glucose better.
With this, it is possible to say that bodybuilding would help the animals to be less dependent on medication and external use of insulin to keep diabetes under control.
as good as running
The researchers observed that the “gym rats” had pancreas functioning similar to healthy ones. “Most studies use aerobic exercises as a reference”, said scientist Gabriela Alves Bronczek, one of those responsible for the study, to the Fapesp Agency portal.
“But we discovered that the molecules released during bodybuilding can improve the functioning of cells and provide all the benefits of aerobic training”, completes Bronczek. The first research advances were published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences in August of last year and the study must continue to better understand the impacts of exercise on the pancreas.
Future treatments
For study investigators, the research paved the way for a more effective prescription of physical activity for patients with diabetes. ‘“We will better understand how this type of activity works, its physiology and how it impacts on glycemic homeostasis”, summarizes the researcher.
A possible development, for Bronczek, is the possibility of, in the future, isolating the molecules produced by the pancreas of the rats that exercised. “This molecule might be synthesized or isolated and used in patients with type 1 diabetes”, he suggests.
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