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(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Moderate exercise combined with some weightlifting may reduce fat levels in the livers of people with type 2 diabetes by up to 40 percent, according to a new Johns Hopkins University study.
High liver fat levels, a common occurrence in type 2 diabetics, contribute to heart disease risk. Most of the 250,000 people who die each year from all kinds of diabetes die from some form of heart disease. Nonalcoholic fatty liver can also lead to cirrhosis and subsequent liver failure and transplantation and even cancer, researchers said.
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For the six-month study, half of the group participated in a moderate exercise program that consisted of 45 minute aerobic sessions three times a week, such as bicycling, running on a treadmill and taking brisk walks, and weightlifting for 20 minutes three times a week. The other group was asked to avoid any formal aerobic or gym classes.
MRI scans showed much lower levels of liver fat in the active group at the end of the six months and little change in the non-exercising group. The active group members also improved their oxygen intake, their muscles grew stronger, their waistlines shrunk and they lowered their body fat and body weight.
The benefits in improved fitness and fatness are clear, and physicians should really have all people with type 2 diabetes actively engaged in an exercise program, lead investigator, exercise physiologist Kerry Stewart, Ed.D., was quoted as saying.
SOURCE: Annual meeting of the American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation in Indianapolis, Sept. 18-21, 2008
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