Are you diabetic? Do you take medicines and avoid exercise? Oh dear, your bones might be weak. Don’t trust us? Read more to know.
A new study has revealed that diabetes drug boosts bone fat and fracture risk and exercise can partially counterbalance the effect.
First author Maya Styner said that these drugs weren’t first or second-line choices of treatment for type-2 diabetes but some patients do take them, adding that the doctors and patients need to better understand the relationship between diabetes, certain drugs and the often dramatic effect on bone health.
Study:
According to the study, rosiglitazone affects bone fat by enhancing a critical transcription factor called PPAR – peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor – which regulates the expression of specific genes in the nuclei of cells. Essentially, rosiglitazone takes glucose out of blood to lower blood sugar and treat diabetes. But that glucose is then packaged into lipid droplets – fat.
What does it mean?
More bone fat means less actual bone, which increases the risk of bone fractures and added that exercise might trigger marrow stem cells to create more bone cells instead of fat cells.
Experiment:
In the study, Styner’s team added a running wheel to mouse cages. They measured the effects of running. Even on a high dose of a power drug, such as rosiglitazone, the mice that exercised showed a significant decrease in bone fat.
What can be done?
All you need to do is go for brief bouts of exercise. Doing so can begin to reverse heart abnormalities in people with type 2 diabetes.
Newcastle University (UK) study is the first to show that high intensity intermittent exercise training improves heart structure and benefits diabetes control in patients with type 2 diabetes.
Short periods of more intense physical activity raise the heart rate more than longer periods at a modest intensity.