Reduced Awareness of Hypoglycemia in T1D With High-Intensity Interval Training

HealthDay News — For patients with type 1 diabetes and normal awareness of hypoglycemia, high-intensity interval training (HIIT) is associated with reduced awareness of subsequent hypoglycemia, according to a study published online in Diabetes.

Hanne M. Rooijackers, MD, from the Radboud University Medical Center in Nijmegen, Netherlands, and colleagues conducted a randomized crossover trial involving patients with type 1 diabetes and normal awareness of hypoglycemia, patients with impaired awareness of hypoglycemia, and healthy participants (10 per group). Participants underwent a hyperinsulinemic-hypoglycemic clamp after a session of HIIT or seated rest.

The researchers found that HIIT reduced symptoms of hypoglycemia compared to rest in patients with normal awareness of hypoglycemia but not in patients with impaired awareness of hypoglycemia or healthy participants. HIIT correlated with a reduction in hypoglycemia-induced cognitive dysfunction, which was mainly due to changes in the normal awareness of hypoglycemia subgroup. HIIT correlated with suppression of cortisol and growth hormone responses, but did not suppress catecholamine responses to hypoglycemia.

“The present findings demonstrate that a single HIIT session rapidly reduces awareness of subsequent hypoglycemia in patients with type 1 diabetes and [normal awareness of hypoglycemia], but not in patients with [impaired awareness of hypoglycemia], and attenuates hypoglycemia-induced cognitive dysfunction,” the authors write.

Refrerence

Rooijackers HM, Wiegers EC, van der Graaf M, et al. A single bout of high-intensity interval training reduces awareness of subsequent hypoglycemia in patients with type 1 diabetes [published online April 2017]. Diabetes. doi:10.2337/db16-1535