Authors
Lynch J. Helmrich SP. Lakka TA. Kaplan GA. Cohen RD. Salonen R. Salonen
JT.
Institution
Human Population Laboratory; Western Consortium for Public Health, Berkeley,
Calif., USA. jlynchhpl:aol.com
Title
Moderately intense physical activities and high levels of
cardiorespiratory fitness reduce the risk
of non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus in middle-aged men [see comments].
Comments
Comment in: Arch Intern Med 1996 Jun 24;156(12):1258
Source
Archives of Internal Medicine. 156(12):1307-14, 1996 Jun 24.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Physical activity has been advocated as an important factor in
the primary prevention of non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM),
but information concerning the specific intensities and durations that are
protective has been unavailable. OBJECTIVE: To examine prospectively the
association between self-reported levels of the intensity and duration of
physical activities, and cardiorespiratory
fitness (assessed by respiratory gas exchange) and incident
cases of NIDDM (assessed by the oral glucose tolerance test) in a
population-based sample of 897 middle-aged Finnish men. RESULTS: After
adjustment for age, baseline glucose values, body mass index, serum
triglyceride levels, parental history of diabetes, and alcohol consumption,
moderately intense physical activities (> or = 5.5 metabolic units) that were
undertaken for at least a 40-minute duration per week were associated with a
reduced risk of NIDDM (odds ration [OR], 0.44; 95% confidence interval [CI],
0.22-0.88). Activities with less than an intensity of 5.5 metabolic units,
regardless of their duration, were not protective.
Cardiorespiratory fitness levels greater
than 31.0 mL of oxygen per kilogram per minute were protective against NIDDM
(OR, 0.26; 95% CI, 0.08-0.82). A subgroup of men at high risk of NIDDM,
because they were overweight and were hypertensive and had a positive
parental history of NIDDM, who engaged in moderately intense physical
activities above the 40-min/wk duration reduced their risk of NIDDM by 64%
compared with men who did not participate in such activities. CONCLUSIONS:
After adjustment for age, baseline glucose levels, and known risk factors,
physical activities with an intensity of 5.5 metabolic units or greater and a
duration of 40 minutes or greater per week protected against the development
of NIDDM. These protective effects were even more pronounced in a subgroup of
men who were at high risk for the development of the disease.