What are the health benefits of physical activity in type 1 diabetes mellitus? A literature review
Open accessAbstract
Physical activity improves well-being and reduces the risk of heart disease, cancer and type 2 diabetes mellitus in the general population. In individuals with established type 2 diabetes, physical activity improves glucose and lipid levels, reduces weight and improves insulin resistance. In type 1 diabetes mellitus, however, the benefits of physical activity are less clear. There is poor evidence for a beneficial effect of physical activity on glycaemic control and microvascular complications, and significant risk of harm through hypoglycaemia. Here we review the literature relating to physical activity and health in type 1 diabetes. We examine its effect on a number of outcomes, including glycaemic control, lipids, blood pressure, diabetic complications, well-being and overall mortality. We conclude that whilst there is sufficient evidence to recommend physical activity in the management of type 1 diabetes, it is still unclear as to what form, duration and intensity should be recommended and whether there is benefit for many of the outcomes examined.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Exercise is associated with improved fitness, increased insulin sensitivity, leading to reduced insulin requirement, improved cardiovascular health with better lipid profile and endothelial function, and decreased mortality.
“People with type 1 diabetes should be encouraged to engage in a combination of aerobic and resistance exercise on most days because exercise is associated with improved fitness, increased insulin sensitivity, leading to reduced insulin requirement, improved cardiovascular health with better lipid profile and endothelial function, and decreased mortality (144-147).”
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
Reduction in the incidence of type 2 diabetes with lifestyle intervention or metformin
(2002) · New England Journal of Medicine · doi:10.1056/nejmoa012512 · Cited by 19,011 · see citing works
Colberg, S. R., Sigal, R. J., Fernhall, B., Regensteiner, J. G., Blissmer, B. J., Rubin, R. R., Chasan-Taber, L., Albright, A. L., & Braun, B. (2010) · Diabetes Care · doi:10.2337/dc10-9990 · Cited by 1,955 · cited 8× · see citing works
“Increased physical fitness improves health-related quality of life scores in these patients (Medical Outcomes Study 36-item Short-Form Health Survey [SF-36] physical component) [4], but to date no studies have looked at the effect of exercise on well-being as measured by diabetesspecific questionnaires.”
BackgroundInfluentialSteffes, M. W., Sibley, S., Jackson, M., & Thomas, W. (2003) · Diabetes Care · doi:10.2337/diacare.26.3.832 · Cited by 695 · see citing works
Effects of Exercise on Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Type 2 Diabetes
Chudyk, A., & Petrella, R. J. (2011) · Diabetes Care · doi:10.2337/dc10-1881 · Cited by 331 · see citing works
Aerobic exercise and the lipid profile in type 1 diabetic men: a randomized controlled trial
LAAKSONEN, D. E., ATALAY, M., NISKANEN, L. K., MUSTONEN, J., &NA;, C. K., LAKKA, T. A., & UUSITUPA, M. I. J. (2000) · Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise · doi:10.1097/00005768-200009000-00003 · Cited by 174 · cited 5× · see citing works
“Supervised physical activity programmes do, however, improve fitness in patients with type 1 diabetes [19–21] (as well as those with type 2 diabetes [22]).”
BackgroundInfluentialWinnick, J. J., Sherman, W. M., Habash, D. L., Stout, M. B., Failla, M. L., Belury, M. A., & Schuster, D. P. (2008) · The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism · doi:10.1210/jc.2007-1524 · Cited by 153 · see citing works
Salem, M. A., AboElAsrar, M. A., Elbarbary, N. S., ElHilaly, R. A., & Refaat, Y. M. (2010) · Diabetology & Metabolic Syndrome · doi:10.1186/1758-5996-2-47 · Cited by 140 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Research works printed but not linked: 6
- Thomas D, Elliott EJ, Naughton GA. Exercise for type 2 diabetes mellitus. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2006, Issue 3. Art. no.: CD002968. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD002968.pub2 · DOI · Paper page
- Zanuso S, Jimenez A, Pugliese G, Corigliano G, Balducci S (2010) Exercise for the management of type 2 diabetes: a review of the evidence. Acta Diabetol 47:15-22
- Mikus CR, Oberlin DJ, Libla JL, Taylor AM, Booth FW, Thyfault JP (2011) Lowering physical activity impairs glycemic control in healthy volunteers. Med Sci Sports Exerc. doi:10.1249/ MSS.0b013e31822ac0c0 · DOI
- Kornhauser C, Malacara JM, Macias-Cervantes MH, Rivera- Cisneros AE (2011) Effect of exercise intensity on albuminuria in adolescents with type 1 diabetes mellitus. Diabet Med doi:10.1111/j.1464-5491.2011.03380.x · DOI
- Koh KH, Dayanath B, Doery JC et al (2011) The effect of exercise on urine albuminuria excretion in diabetic subjects. Nephrology (Carlton) 16:704-709. doi:10.1111/j.1440-1797.2011.01508.x · DOI
- Janghorbani M, van Dam RM, Willett WC, Hu FB (2007) Systematic review of type 1 and type 2 diabetes mellitus and risk of fracture. Am J Epidemiol 166:495-505
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Physical activity/exercise and diabetes: A position statement of the American Diabetes Association
Colberg, S. R., Sigal, R. J., Yardley, J. E., Riddell, M. C., Dunstan, D. W., Dempsey, P. C., Horton, E. S., Castorino, K., & Tate, D. F. (2016) · Diabetes Care · doi:10.2337/dc16-1728 · Cited by 2,991 · see citing works
Exercise management in type 1 diabetes: a consensus statement
Riddell, M. C., Gallen, I. W., Smart, C. E., Taplin, C. E., Adolfsson, P., Lumb, A. N., Kowalski, A., Rabasa-Lhoret, R., McCrimmon, R. J., Hume, C., et al. (2017) · The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology · doi:10.1016/s2213-8587(17)30014-1 · Cited by 903 · see citing works
Holt, R. I. G., DeVries, J. H., Hess-Fischl, A., Hirsch, I. B., Kirkman, M. S., Klupa, T., Ludwig, B., Nørgaard, K., Pettus, J., Renard, E., et al. (2021) · Diabetes Care · doi:10.2337/dci21-0043 · Cited by 699 · see citing works
Bohn, B., Herbst, A., Pfeifer, M., Krakow, D., Zimny, S., Kopp, F., Melmer, A., Steinacker, J. M., & Holl, R. W. (2015) · Diabetes Care · doi:10.2337/dc15-0030 · Cited by 321 · see citing works
Body temperature regulation in diabetes
Kenny, G. P., Sigal, R. J., & McGinn, R. (2016) · Temperature · doi:10.1080/23328940.2015.1131506 · Cited by 297 · see citing works
Weight management in patients with type 1 diabetes and obesity
Mottalib, A., Kasetty, M., Mar, J. Y., Elseaidy, T., Ashrafzadeh, S., & Hamdy, O. (2017) · Current Diabetes Reports · doi:10.1007/s11892-017-0918-8 · Cited by 149 · see citing works
the FinnDiane Study Group, Tikkanen-Dolenc, H., Wadén, J., Forsblom, C., Harjutsalo, V., Thorn, L. M., Saraheimo, M., Elonen, N., Hietala, K., Summanen, P., et al. (2020) · Acta Diabetologica · doi:10.1007/s00592-019-01454-y · Cited by 43 · see citing works
Benefits and limitations of continuous glucose monitoring in type 1 diabetes
Stone, J. Y., & Bailey, T. S. (2020) · Expert Review of Endocrinology & Metabolism · doi:10.1080/17446651.2020.1706482 · Cited by 30 · see citing works
Brennan, M. C., Brown, J. A., Leslie, G. D., & Ntoumanis, N. (2022) · Canadian Journal of Diabetes · doi:10.1016/j.jcjd.2021.04.008 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
- Authors
- Chimen, M., Kennedy, A., Nirantharakumar, K., Pang, T. T., Andrews, R., & Narendran, P.
- Affiliations
- University of Birmingham (GB)
- University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust (GB)
- Russells Hall Hospital (GB)
- University of Bristol (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Narendran, P.
- Venue
- Diabetologia
- Published
- 2011-12-22
- Volume
- 55
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 542-551
- ISSN
- 0012-186X (ISSN-L)
- 1432-0428
- OpenAlex
- W1983831716
- Cited by
- 438
- References
- 8
- Citations by year
- 2026: 11 · 2025: 20 · 2024: 35 · 2023: 40 · 2022: 27 · 2021: 41 · 2020: 38 · 2019: 45 · 2018: 31 · 2017: 34 · 2016: 28 · 2015: 27 · 2014: 33 · 2013: 22 · 2012: 6
- FWCI
- 2.72
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- Diabetologia (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- University of Birmingham Research Portal (University of Birmingham) (submittedVersion)
- Bristol Research (University of Bristol) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute for Health and Care Research (PB-PG-0609-19093)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism › Diabetes Management and Research
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Physical Activity and Health
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism › Diabetes Management and Education
- Keywords
- physical activity, type 1 diabetes, glycemic control, hypoglycemia, microvascular complications, blood pressure, serum lipids, mortality, well-being, exercise intensity and duration
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Animals, Child, Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1, Health Promotion, Humans, Motor Activity, Exercise, Evidence-Based Medicine
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
