A Prescription for Exercise?
Researchers warn that too little physical activity can have detrimental results for kids. A commentary published in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine in October 2012, reports that the US Institutes of Medicine, the Commonwealth of Australia Department of Health and Aging, and the four UK Chief Medical Officers have all updated activity guidelines for young children. The updated guidelines are based on evidence that was collected about physical activity in young children. The three new guidelines all suggest that toddlers and pre-schoolers should get about three hours of physical activity, spread throughout the day.
With the publication of these new guidelines, and the start of the new year, many Canadians begin to think more about exercise, and may even be trying to keep New Year’s resolutions to get active and stay healthy. Dr. David C. Wright, a Canadian Diabetes Association Scholar Award recipient (2008 to 2013), can help us learn how exercise can be especially helpful for people who are living with, or at risk for, type 2 diabetes.
Scholar Awards are designed to provide salary support for newly independent investigators establishing their own diabetes-related research at a Canadian university or research institute. A successful applicant will be required to devote at least 75 percent of his/her academic effort to diabetes-related research. Dr. Wright is using his Scholar Award to investigate if a specialized type of exercise could be used as an alternative treatment to certain drugs for type 2 diabetes. Research has shown that there is a link between when the number of energy-producing engines (called mitochondria) in fat cells decreases and the development of type 2 diabetes. One type of diabetes drug, called thiazolidinediones (TZDs), increases the amount of mitochondria in fat cells. This drug controls blood glucose levels well, but has undesirable side effects, like weight gain, water retention, and increased risk of heart attack.
During the course of his Scholar Award, Dr. Wright is testing to see if endurance exercise training can raise the number of mitochondria in fat cells. Exercise causes the number of mitochondria in muscle cells to increase, so Dr. Wright wants to know if it works the same for fat cells. He will test if this type of exercise can prevent the number of mitochondria from falling in the first place, and if this type of exercise could increase the number of mitochondria after they have already decreased.
During his Scholar Award, Dr. Wright and his team were the first to show that exercise does indeed increase the number of mitochondria in fat cells. Dr. Wright found that exercise causes many of the same beneficial changes as drugs like rosiglitazone. Since these drugs can have unwanted side effects, Dr. Wright’s results are an important first step in finding different ways to improve how fats are metabolized in the body. If the remainder of Dr. Wright’s Scholar Award is as successful as the first portion, physicians could well start writing prescriptions for exercise instead of for drugs.