Effects of walking on residual beta cell function and glycemic control in patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus

Abstract

Objective To explore the effect of walking on residual beta cell function and glycemic control in patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus. Methods A total of 117 type 1 diabetes mellitus patients who usually walked less than 5000 steps per day were given health education about exercise and divided into three groups according to their self-estimates of the number of walking steps they had taken daily in the previous 4 months: an absent exercise group ( 10000 steps/day). Among them, 34 were in absent group (23.5% for males), 45 were in basis exercise group (40.0% for males) and 38 were in active exercise group (52.6% for males). Fasting C-peptide, postprandial C-peptide, and postprandial C-peptide to glucose ratio were used to evaluate the residual beta cell function, while glycated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) and insulin dose-adjusted HbA1c (IDAA1c) were used to evaluate their glycemic control. Results The beta cell function and glycemic control showed a tendency to improve with increases in the number of walking steps. Fasting C-peptide, postprandial C-peptide and the postprandial C-peptide to glucose ratio also increased significantly, while HbA1c and IDAA1c decreased significantly. After balancing the initial difference in the analysis of covariance, significant differences were still found among the 3 groups in the subjects′ beta cell function and glycemic control during the follow-up. Linear regression showed that a large number of steps independently predicted better beta cell function. Conclusions In patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus, walking exercise may be effective for improving residual beta cell function and glycemic control. Key words: Walking; Diabetes mellitus, type 1; Glycemic control; Beta cells; C-peptide