AMHERST — Participants are sought for a new study to determine what timing and type of daily exercise works best to control blood sugar in adults ages 35 to 75 with Type 2 diabetes for at least six months, but who are not taking insulin.
The study is being conducted by Jennifer Blankenship, A doctoral student in kinesiology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, her study will compare the effectiveness of a single bout of exercise to several periods of lighter exercise spaced throughout the day to determine which one controls blood sugar better, in particular, after the morning meal. Most of the research in this area has been done in laboratory settings, she points out, so the impact of these different physical activity types on blood sugar control in the real world is unknown.
To enroll call her at 413-545-0331 or email jblankenship@kin.umass.edu.
“A lot of people don’t exercise, so they miss the muscle contractions that use up blood sugar. This is especially important for people with diabetes, who have high blood sugar frequently during the day. Even when diabetes is controlled with medications, they can spend close to 30 percent of their time with high blood sugar,” Blankenship explained. “Our study is looking for the best type of exercise to control that, comparing short walks to a gym session. We want to know if building mild muscle contractions into the day, particularly after a meal, works as well as a single workout to lower daily blood sugar.”
Participants will wear a continuous blood glucose sensor inserted with a small needle into abdominal fat, with a quarter-sized data collection device taped to the skin for one week. This is a nearly painless procedure, the researcher says, and it records blood sugar levels every five minutes for seven days.
Participants follow their normal routine at home or at work and will also complete two different experiment days. On experiment days, participants will add either continuous walking or several short, less-than-5-minute, activity periods. Experiment days alternate with control days of normal activity.Partici
Participants will get “lots of personal health information,” Blankenship said, including seven days of glucose monitoring data to share with their primary care doctor, and a body composition test.
For completing the study, participants will also receive $25 and a one-month membership to the Body Shop workout center in Totman Hall on the UMass Amherst campus. “The ultimate goal of this research is to personalize physical activity recommendations to each person’s blood sugar spikes and improve health,” she says.