Exercise Curbs Diabetes

Physical activity -- even taking a short walk, can lower the risk for developing diabetes and heart disease, a new study says.

Writing in The Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers at the University of South Carolina say non-vigorous physical activity as well as vigorous scheduled exercise can cut the risk of the debilitating disease by heightening the body's insulin sensitivity.

The scientists looked at more than 1,460 men and women ranging in age from 40 to 69 years. All the subjects had glucose tolerance ranging from normal to mild non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus.

The researchers' findings indicate that habitual exercise, while not necessarily as intense or vigorous as running or working out on exercise machines, can be beneficial. This is true for lowering the risk for diabetes and also for cardiovascular disease. The benefits, they say, "may be considerable because interventions could be designed that incorporate an already common and presumably acceptable behavior [walking] that is inexpensive and accessible to large segments of the population."