Bursts of exercise could help diabetics

Bursts of high-intensity exercise could help diabetes patients manage low blood sugar levels, Dundee University scientists have found.

Bursts of exercise could help diabetes patients manage low blood sugar levels. Picture: Getty Images

A quarter of people with type-1 diabetes eventually lose the ability to recognise when their blood sugar levels are low, which can lead to them losing consciousness.

Research presented at the Society for Endocrinology conference in Edinburgh today found that rats exposed to high intensity exercise over a four-week period had the quickest response to hypoglycaemia than ones who did low intensity exercise or none at all.

Lead author Alison McNeilly said: “While there are no treatments available for the management of hypoglycaemia unawareness, our breakthrough could represent a non-drug based treatment for this seriously debilitating and potentially deadly condition.”