JDRF, a global organization that funds Type 1 diabetes research, has published guidelines to help people with Type 1 diabetes exercise safely.
The report, published recently in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, offers guidelines on glucose targets as well as nutritional and insulin does adjustments to prevent exercise-related fluctuations in blood sugar.
“The lack of reliable information on how to exercise safely has created obstacles for people with T1D who want to maintain a healthy lifestyle. These consensus guidelines, as well as JDRF’s new PEAK program, are breaking down those barriers,” says Aaron Kowalski, PhD, JDRF Chief Mission Officer and contributor to the report, in a media release.
To compile the JDRF-funded guidelines report, Kowalski and others reviewed observational studies and clinical trials on exercise management for people with Type 1 diabetes who exercise regularly.
The report generated from this review of studies and trials identifies how different types of exercise can reduce or increase glucose levels, to help inform changes to an exercise routine to ensure safe and effective glycemic management, the release notes.
The report coincides with JDRF’s launch of its T1D Performance in Exercise and Knowledge (PEAK) initiative to educate people with Type 1 diabetes, their caregivers, and their healthcare professionals on how to participate in physical activity safely.
As part of the PEAK program, educational workshops will take place in various US cities and will explore the environmental, dietary, physiological, and psychosocial elements that impact physical activity of persons with Type 1 diabetes.
The first workshops will be held in Boston on February 10 (healthcare providers) and February 11 (patients and caregivers), and in Chicago on February 24 (healthcare providers).
[Source(s): JDRF, PR Newswire]