FITNESS, AGING AND DIABETES

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

Even if we’re healthy, we still lose about 10 percent of our aerobic ability each decade after about age 40 or 50. But diabetes takes an extra toll on our cardiovascular system, and makes it look older than it should. At the University of Colorado School of Medicine, Amy Heubschmann looked at data on people with diabetes:

"There’s been about 20 percent worse fitness levels in adults with diabetes as compared to adults without diabetes. That’s the case in teenagers, middle aged adults and older adults."

However, she says moderate physical activity can raise fitness levels to close to what moderately active people without diabetes should have.

The study presented at a joint meeting of physiology organizations was supported by the National Institutes of Health.