Roughly one in eight Americans has type 2 diabetes – totaling over 40 million individuals, with an additional two million Americans with type 1 diabetes. In addition to the lifestyle and health impacts, the condition carries a heavy financial burden of a 2.5 times higher cost of living compared to someone without diabetes.
One step can vastly improve – and even prevent – negative diabetes outcomes and costs: exercise.
Salwa Zahalka, MD, assistant professor of endocrinology, metabolism and diabetes at the CU Anschutz School of Medicine and her colleagues recently contributed to a review that examined the role of exercise in diabetes.
In the following Q&A, Zahalka details how exercise reduces the chances of getting type 2 diabetes and helps patients with both type 1 and type 2 diabetes with their overall health. She also talks about the barriers to exercise and any risks to be aware of when starting a routine.