Medical-Fitness Technician
Certification Course
Part B: Exercise & Patho-Physiology (LM:11-24)
Certification Course
Part B: Exercise & Patho-Physiology (LM:11-24)
Learning Module 14:
Exercise & Type 2 Diabetes
Exercise & Type 2 Diabetes
Study the Learning Module with the Video and take the Quiz.
Learning Objectives
- Know the definition and prevalence of Type 2 Diabetes.
- Know some of the causes and complications of Type 2 Diabetes.
- Know the treatment options for Pre-Diabetes & Type 2 Diabetes.
- Understand the relationship between Exercise and Type 2 Diabetes.
Definition: Type 2 Diabetes is a disease in which your blood glucose (sugar) levels are too high. Glucose is the body's main source of energy. A hormone called insulin helps the glucose get into your cells where the fuel can be "burned" to produce ATP. If you have diabetes, your cells are resistant to insulin and/or your pancreas does not produce enough insulin. Thus, too much glucose stays in your blood, which can cause a variety of health problems.
Causes of Type 2 Diabetes: Pre-Diabetes and Type 2 diabetes is usually caused by a combination of factors:
Causes of Type 2 Diabetes: Pre-Diabetes and Type 2 diabetes is usually caused by a combination of factors:
- Being overweight or obese
- Not getting enough exercise
- Family History (genetics and/or unhealthy family-lifestyle habits)
- Insulin Resistance: This is a condition in which your cells don't respond normally to insulin. As a result, your body needs more insulin to help the glucose enter your cells. At first, your body makes more insulin to try to get the cells to respond. But over time, the pancreas cannot make enough insulin, and your blood glucose levels rise.
Complications of Type 2 Diabetes:
Prevalence of Type 2 Diabetes:
Treatment of Type 2 Diabetes:
- Heart Disease
- Chronic Kidney Disease
- Neuropathies (nerve damage) (often pain or numbness in the feet)
- Vision & Hearing Loss
- Peripheral Arterial Disease with Amputations
- Mental Health problems
- Shortened Life Expectancy: If diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes at age 30, life expectancy is 14 years shorter. If diagnosed at age 50, life expectancy is 6 years shorter.
Prevalence of Type 2 Diabetes:
- Many people with Type 2 Diabetes have no symptoms at all, or if they do, the symptoms develop so slowly over several years that they go unnoticed. Even noticeable symptoms are often vague (non-specific) and variable so that they are often mistakenly attributed to other causes. If you don't know you have diabetes, it goes untreated and progresses.
- Most health care providers will use blood tests to screen (detect), diagnose, and treat type 2 diabetes as early as possible. The blood tests include: Hemoglobin A1C Test, which measures the average blood sugar level over the past 3 months, and/or a
Fasting Plasma Glucose (FPG) Test, which measures your current blood sugar level. (Fasting means you need to not eat or drink anything except water for at least 8 hours before the test.) - Pre-Diabetes - 98 million people aged 18+ in the U.S. have pre-diabetes (38% of the total-adult US population) and for seniors 65+ 27 million people have pre-diabetes (47% of the senior-adult US population)
- Type 2 Diabetes - 39 million people have diabetes (12% of the US population, mostly adults over 40 years old), but 8.7 million of these people (22%) are undiagnosed.
Treatment of Type 2 Diabetes:
- Treatment usually involves managing your blood sugar using medications, but most people do not know that living a healthy lifestyle can reverse or at least slow the progression and reduce complications.
- A healthy lifestyle includes following a healthy eating plan and getting regular physical activity.
- The same healthy lifestyle also reverses and protects against high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels, and obesity.
- Prevention: Achieve and maintain a healthy weight, avoid refined foods and animal products, eat whole plant-based foods, and be more physically active (daily or "after-each-meal" exercise - walks).
Relationship between Exercise & Pre-Diabetes & Type 2 Diabetes
Conclusion: The more you exercise, the less likely you are to develop Pre-Diabetes or Type 2 Diabetes, and if you already have diabetes, exercise helps reverse, and protects against the health effects of, Type 2 Diabetes.